Chris Abani
NYT Bestselling Novelist
Nigerian-born Poet
Samiya Bashir
Acclaimed Poet Finalist Lambda Lit Award
Jericho Brown
Pulitzer Prize-winning PoetThe Tradition
Mahogany L. Browne
Poet, Performer & Organizer Black Girl Magic
Kwame Dawes
Ghana-born Jamaican Poet
Novelist and Essayist
Natashia Deón
Acclaimed Novelist
Immigration Attorney
Camille Dungy
Award-winning Poet
Acclaimed Essayist & Critic
Anaïs Duplan
Award-winning Poet & Essayist
2022 Whiting Award-winner
Cornelius Eady
Poet, Lyricist, Playwright
Co-Founder of Cave Canem
Percival Everett
Acclaimed Novelist
Hurston/Wright Legacy Award
Aminatta Forna
Award-winning Novelist
Acclaimed Memoirist
Terrance Hayes
MacArthur "Genius" Award
National Book Award
Major Jackson
Acclaimed Author
Roll Deep
Douglas Kearney
National Book Award Longlist
Race, Culture & Identity
Michael Kleber-Diggs
Award-winning Author
Max Ritvo Poetry Prize
Dawn Lundy Martin
Poet, Critic, Memoirist
Kingsley Tufts Award
Airea D. Matthews
Award-winning Poet
Race, Culture & Identity
Philadelphia Poet Laureate
John Murillo
Award-winning Poet
Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award
Marilyn Nelson
Poet-as-Historian
Frost Poetry Prize
Chigozie Obioma
Award-winning Novelist
NAACP Image Award
Ladan Osman
Somali-born Poet
Gender & Displacement
Patrick Phillips
Poet & Nonfiction Writer
Blood at the Root
Deesha Philyaw
Award-winning Writer
Black Queer Intersectionality
Claudia Rankine
NYT Bestselling Author
NBCCA & Forward Prize
Sapphire
Bestselling Novelist
Performance Poet
Nicole Sealey
Forward Prize
Former Executive Director of Cave Canem (2017-2019)
Tim Seibles
Acclaimed Poet
Nat'l Book Award Finalist
Matthew Shenoda
Award-winning Poet
American Book Award
Danté Stewart
Acclaimed Memoirist
Belonging & Religion
Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
Award-winning Novelist & Critic
Black Queer Feminism
Michael Thomas
Novelist & Memoirist
IMPAC Dublin Award
Natasha Trethewey
US Poet Laureate (2012-2014)
Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet
Crystal Valentine
Poet, Educator & Activist
Nat’l Poetry Slam Finalist
Frank B. Wilderson III
Award-winning Author
Poet, Scholar, Activist
Ibi Zoboi
Award-winning YA Novelist
National Book Award Finalist
Okoye to the People