Velasquez

Elisabet Velasquez is a Boricua writer, mother of two children from Brooklyn, New York, now living in Jersey City, New Jersey. Velasquez uses poetry to share her own transformative narrative, illustrating how life’s diverse experiences—especially her experiences, growing up in Bushwick, Brooklyn as a first generation Puerto-Rican teen mother and GED recipient have been instrumental […]
Summers

Courtney Summers is an “uncompromising writer” (Quill and Quire) with “a history of risky artistic choices” (Kirkus Reviews) “known for pushing boundaries” (Shelf Awareness) with a body of work that’s “not for the faint of heart” (The New York Times). Hailed “a master of the bitch” (Electric Literature) for years of writing “nuanced, wrenching stories […]
Divakaruni

Dr. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an award-winning author, poet, activist and professor. Her children’s books include Grandma and the Great Gourd, The Conch Bearer, The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming and Shadowland. Her adult titles include Mistress of Spices, Sister of My Heart, Oleander Girl, Before We Visit the Goddess and Palace of Illusions. Her […]
De Leon

Born in the Boston area to Guatemalan parents, Jennifer De Leon is the author of the novel Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From (published by Simon & Schuster/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books in 2020) and the essay collection White Space: Essays on Culture, Race, and Writing (winner of the Juniper Prize and published by Mass Press in […]
Luqman-Dawson

Amina Luqman-Dawson loves using writing to tell stories and to build an understanding of race, culture and community. Her published writing includes op-eds in newspapers, magazine articles, travel writing and book reviews. She’s authored the pictorial history book Images of America: African Americans of Petersburg (Arcadia Publishing). She has a BA in Political Science from Vassar College […]
Gratz

Alan Gratz is the bestselling author of nineteen novels and graphic novels for young readers. His 2017 novel Refugee has spent more than three years on the New York Times bestseller list, and is the winner of 14 state awards. Its other accolades include the Sydney Taylor Book Award, the National Jewish Book Award, the […]
Moulite

Maika Moulite is a Miami native and the daughter of Haitian immigrants. She loves writing: books, think pieces, journal entries, neverending lists, you name it. When she’s not scribbling every random thought into her notes app, she’s sharpening her skills as a Howard University PhD student. (That means more writing.) Her research focuses on representation […]
Snider

Grant Snider began drawing and writing before he knew what he was doing. Soon it was too late to stop. He is the author of the picture books What Color is the Night? and One Boy Watching and the creator of Incidental Comics. His comics were collected and published in the books The Shape of […]
Telgemeier

Raina Telgemeier is the author and illustrator of the graphic novels Smile, Drama, Sisters, Ghosts, and Guts, all #1 New York Times bestsellers. She also adapted and illustrated four graphic novel versions of Ann M. Martin’s Baby-Sitters Club series, and has contributed short stories to many anthologies. Raina’s accolades include six Eisner Awards, a Boston […]
Reyes

Born and raised in Arizona, Sonora Reyes is the author of The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School and the young adult novel: The Luis Ortega Survival Club. In Sonora’s sharply funny and moving debut novel, The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School follows a queer Mexican American girl navigating Catholic school, while falling in love and […]