Authors

MAHA ABOUELENEIN is an American Egyptian with more than 30 years of global communications experience advising global corporate giants, startups, governments, CEOS, and high-net-worth individuals. She is the CEO of Digital and Savvy, a strategic communications consulting firm with offices in the U.S. and Dubai. A sought-after strategist and speaker, Abouelenein is an expert on personal branding, reputation management, modern communications, and the transformational power of storytelling. She is the former head of global communications and public policy at Google and the founding managing director of Weber Shandwick in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey. Before becoming an entrepreneur, she worked in promotions and sports marketing at General Mills. Abouelenein is on the global board of directors of the Associated Press and hosts the Savvy Talk podcast. For more, visit www.digitalandsavvy.com.

STACEY ABRAMS is the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of While Justice Sleeps: A Novel (Doubleday), Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America (Henry Holt and Co.), Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change (Henry Holt and Co.), and the NAACP Image Award winners Stacey’s Extraordinary Words (Balzer + Bray) and Stacey’s Remarkable Books (Balzer + Bray). She is also the CEO of Sage Works Productions, an entertainment production company. A tax attorney by training, Abrams served 11 years in the Georgia House of Representatives and seven as minority leader. She has launched multiple organizations devoted to voting rights and tackling social issues at the state, national, and international levels. Committed to the pursuit of equity, Abrams works to break barriers for young people, people of color, and the marginalized through her work in the public, nonprofit, and corporate sectors. She holds degrees from Spelman College, the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and Yale Law School.

Named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People,” TOMI ADEYEMI is a Hugo- and Nebula Award–winning Nigerian American writer and storyteller. After graduating from Harvard University with an honors degree in English literature, she studied West African mythology, religion, and culture in Salvador, Brazil. She is the author of the groundbreaking No. 1 New York Times bestselling Legacy of Orïsha series, which includes Children of Blood and Bone, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, and Children of Anguish and Anarchy. The trilogy is being developed into a feature film. Adeyemi was named one of Forbes’s “30 Under 30 in Media” in 2020 and her website was selected as a “101 Best Websites” for writers by Writer’s Digest. Based in New York City, she can be found teaching creative writing online.

’PEMI AGUDA is an MFA graduate from the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan. Her writing has been published in Granta, Ploughshares, Zoetrope, and other publications, and has been awarded the O. Henry Prize for short fiction. She is from Lagos, Nigeria, and currently lives in Philadelphia.

Multiple Emmy-award-winning journalist LOUIS AGUIRRE has been a co-anchor of WPLG Local 10 News weekday 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 5:30 p.m. newscasts since 2017. He also anchors the 10 p.m. Local 10 newscasts on WSFL. Since Earth Day 2021, Aguirre has been WPLG Local 10’s environmental advocate and the face of a new stationwide campaign called "Don’t Trash Our Treasure." Aguirre began his television career at Telemundo in 1989 as a Spanish-language reporter, and made the jump to Local 10 as a reporter and then weekend anchor from 1989 to 1992. He spent 14 years at WSVN Miami before relocating to Los Angeles in 2014 to anchor the nationally syndicated program The Insider. He has worked for Extra, served as lead correspondent for A Current Affair, and as a co-host of Fox and Friends. In addition, Aguirre has guest starred on Sex and the City, JAG, Burn Notice, Guiding Light, and All My Children. A native of Miami, he is a graduate of the University of Miami and the Université de Paris at La Sorbonne.

KOMAIL AIJAZUDDIN is a visual artist and writer who lives and works in New York City. He holds degrees from New York University and the Pratt Institute. His work can be viewed at KomailAijazuddin.com.

KAVEH AKBAR’s poems appear in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Paris Review, The Best American Poetry, and elsewhere. He is the author of two poetry collections: Pilgrim Bell and Calling a Wolf a Wolf, in addition to a chapbook, Portrait of the Alcoholic. He is also the editor of The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse: 110 Poets on the Divine. He lives in Iowa City, Iowa.

MITCH ALBOM is an inspirational author, screenwriter, philanthropist, journalist, and broadcaster. He has written numerous fiction and nonfiction books, collectively selling more than 40 million copies in 48 languages worldwide. He is also the author of eight No. 1 New York Times bestsellers, including the bestselling memoir of all time, Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson (Crown), which topped the list for four straight years and celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022. Albom has also written award-winning TV films, stage plays, screenplays, a nationally syndicated newspaper column, and a musical. He appeared for more than 20 years on ESPN, where he was a fixture on The Sports Reporters. Through his work at the Detroit Free Press, he was inducted into both the National Sports Media Association and Michigan Sports Halls of Fame, and received the Associated Press Sports Editors’ Red Smith Award for lifetime achievement. Since 2006, Albom has operated nine charitable programs in southeast Michigan under his SAY Detroit umbrella, including the nation's first medical clinic for homeless children. Since 2010, he has operated the Have Faith Haiti orphanage in Port au Prince, Haiti, which he visits monthly without exception.

KWAME ALEXANDER is a poet, educator, publisher, two-time Emmy-nominated writer/producer, and the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of 39 books, including Why Fathers Cry at Night: A Memoir in Love Poems, Recipes, Letters, and Remembrances (Little, Brown and Company), The Door of No Return (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), and Light for the World to See: A Thousand Words on Race and Hope(Mariner Books). A regular contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, Alexander is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2016 and 2020 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and the 2017 inaugural Conroy Legacy Award. In 2018, he founded the publishing imprint Versify. He opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana as part of the Literacy Empowerment Action Project (LEAP), an international literacy program he cofounded. Alexander’s work and podcast Why Fathers Cry can be found online at KwameAlexander.com.

T.J. ALEXANDER is a critically acclaimed author who writes about queer love. Originally from Florida, they received their M.A. in writing and publishing from Emerson College in Boston. They live in New York City with their wife and various houseplants.

S.K. ALI is the author of several books, including Saints and Misfits, a finalist for the American Library Association’s 2018 William C. Morris Award and winner of the APALA Honor Award and the Middle East Book Honor Award; and Love from A to Z, a Today Show Read with Jenna Book Club selection. Both novels were named best YA novels of the year by various media sources including Entertainment Weekly and Kirkus. You can find Ali online at SKAliBooks.com and follow her on Instagram @SKAliBooks, TikTok @SKAliBooks, and Twitter @SajidahWrites.

PRESTON L. ALLEN is the author of eight works of fiction, including Every Boy Should Have a Man (Akashic Books, Ltd.), Jesus Boy (Akashic Books, Ltd.), All or Nothing (Akashic Books, Ltd.), and the award-winning collection Churchboys and Other Sinners (Blair). His stories have appeared in numerous magazines and journals and have been anthologized in Brown Sugar, Miami Noir, and Las Vegas Noir. The creator and host of Accents: A Poetry Jam, Allen is an associate professor of English and creative writing at Miami Dade College. He was born in Honduras and lives in South Florida. I Disappeared Them: A Novel (Akashic Books, Ltd.) is his latest book.

JAYNE ALLEN, author of The Most Wonderful Time: A Novel (Harper), is a writer, producer, entrepreneur, and self-described "recovering lawyer." Her previous books include the bestselling Black Girls Must Die Exhausted trilogy. In the earliest years of her career as an alumna of Harvard Law School and Duke University Pratt School of Engineering, she worked as an entertainment attorney, including in service to the late artist Prince. Purposeful in centering and celebrating Black women’s societal contributions, Allen's common themes include mental and physical health and highlight the importance of self-love and self-care. She currently serves on the Diversity Committee of the Author’s Guild Council. A proud native of Detroit, she lives in Los Angeles.

B. B. ALSTON's debut novel, Amari and the Night Brothers, was a No. 1 Kids’ Indie Next pick and the winner of Barnes & Noble’s inaugural Children’s and YA Book Award, as well as a New York Times and indie bestseller. He lives in Chapin, South Carolina. When not writing, he can be found eating too many sweets and exploring country roads to see where they lead. Visit him online at bbalston.com.

MARCUS KWAME ANDERSON is an illustrator and fine artist. Much of his work explores the beauty and diversity of the African diaspora and often incorporates social commentary. He graduated from the State University of New York at Fredonia with a degree in illustration. Anderson is the Eisner Award-winning co-creator of The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History (Ten Speed Graphic), the co-creator of the comic book series Snow Daze, and has illustrated stories in Action Lab's Cash & Carrie series and F.O.R.C.E. He is currently the deputy director of the Underground Railroad Education Center. Big Jim and the White Boy: An American Classic Reimagined (Ten Speed Graphic) is his most recent graphic novel.

MITCH ANDERSON is the founder and executive director of Amazon Frontlines, which supports Indigenous peoples' struggles to defend their rights to land, life, and cultural survival in the Amazon rainforest. A native of the Bay Area, he is Nemonte Nenquimo’s partner. They have two young children.

EILEEN ANDRADE is the chef-owner of Amelia’s 1931. Andrade started in the fashion business, but couldn’t resist the pull of her Cuban family’s restaurant legacy, especially that of her abuela Amelia, for whom the restaurant is named. She worked her way up in her family’s restaurants (she started as a dishwasher), ran a food truck and two casual spots – Finka and Barbako – and designed Amelia’s 1931, which features an eclectic Asian-Latin menu.

VANIA ANDRÉ is the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Haitian Times.

JESSICA ANTHONY is the author of three books of fiction, including her most recent title, The Most (‎Little, Brown and Company), and Enter the Aardvark (Little, Brown and Company), a finalist for the New England Book Award in Fiction. She has been a butcher in Alaska, an unlicensed masseuse in Poland, a secretary in San Francisco, and is a recipient of the Creative Capital Award in Literature. She wrote Enter the Aardvark and The Most while working as a bridge guard for the Maria Valeria Bridge between Sturovo, Slovakia, and Esztergom, Hungary. Usually, she lives in Maine and teaches at Bates College.

DIANNELY ANTIGUA is a Dominican American poet and educator who was born and raised in Massachusetts. She is the author of Ugly Music (YesYes Books), which won the Pamet River Prize and a 2020 Whiting Award, and Good Monster (Copper Canyon Press). Antigua received her MFA at New York University and fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, CantoMundo, Community of Writers, and the Fine Arts Work Center. From 2022-2024, Antigua served as the poet laureate of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the first person of color to receive the title. She hosts the Bread & Poetry podcast.

GABRIELLE ANWAR has more than 45 film and television performances to her credit in both Europe and the United States, including her breakout film Scent of a Woman, in which she danced an acclaimed tango with Al Pacino. Anwar has taken on the roles of a vast array of characters in films such as the biopic Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, Showtime's The Tudors, TNT's The Librarian I, Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, and The Three Musketeers. She has been featured in hit shows Burn Notice and ABC’s Once Upon A Time. She just wrapped the indie film The Price for Freedom. On the board of Pikler USA, Anwar frequently speaks on early childhood care and its direct relation to mental health, most recently to Congress in Washington, D.C. She is active in funding and bringing awareness to the work, supporting an array of animal and child care charities. Anwar hosted the Southern Florida Make-A-Wish Ball for her 12th consecutive year, raising more than $30,000,000 in wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses. Anwar continues to pursue her love of the written word with a plethora of pilots, screenplays, a novel and a memoir, as yet unpublished.

LAUREN APPELBAUM works as a technical editor and has been writing fiction since she could hold a pencil (usually when she’s supposed to be doing other things). She lives in Seattle with her family.

MARIE ARANA was born in Lima, Peru. She is the author of the memoir American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood (The Dial Press), which was a finalist for the National Book Award; Cellophane: A Novel (The Dial Press) and Lima Nights: A Novel (The Dial Press); the prizewinning biography Bolívar: American Liberator (Simon & Schuster); Silver, Sword, and Stone: Three Crucibles in the Latin American Story (Simon & Schuster), a narrative history of Latin America; The Writing Life: Writers On How They Think And Work (PublicAffairs), a collection from her well-known column for The Washington Post; and LatinoLand: A Portrait of America's Largest and Least Understood Minority (Simon & Schuster). She is the inaugural literary director of the Library of Congress and lives in Washington, D.C., and Lima, Peru.

J.J. ARIAS is an Amazon bestselling sapphic romance author and proud Cuban American from Miami who infuses her narratives with the vibrancy of her heritage and the warmth of her home city. Known for her funny dialogue and palpable tension, she brings to life stories that are full of heart and heat. Arias and her wife live in South Florida with too many cats, a melancholy pit bull, and a parakeet that chooses violence at every opportunity.

PAULA ARRIETA GUTIÉRREZ Artista visual y Magíster en Artes Visuales de la Universidad de Chile, doctora en Historia y Teoría de las Artes de la Universidad de Buenos Aires. Es autora de Si muere Duchamp (2021). Actualmente es académica de la Facultad de Artes de la Universidad de Chile. Presenta en la Feria Mirar hasta el final. Memoria e imaginación (Tiempo Robado Editoras), una obra que ofrece una serie de relatos/ensayos que cruzan arte y memorias, tanto personales como colectivas de los últimos 50 años de la historia de Chile: la Unidad Popular, el golpe de Estado de 1973, la dictadura y la posdictadura. Conjuga un género admirablemente recobrado – el de las novelas sociales de la conmoción – con el de las autobiografías encubiertas.

JUBI ARRIOLA-HEADLEY (he/him) is a Black queer poet, storyteller, first-generation United Statesian, and the author of two collections of poems: original kink (Sibling Rivalry Press), which received a 2021 Housatonic Book Award, and Bound: Poems (Persea Books). He is currently at work on a collection of essays, an excerpt of which received the 2023 First Pages Prize for creative nonfiction. Arriola-Headley lives with his husband in South Florida, on ancestral Tequesta, Miccosukee, and Seminole lands.

K ARSENAULT RIVERA is an award-winning fantasy author. She is best known for The Tiger's Daughter (Tor Books) and its follow-ups, all epic fantasies set in an east and central Asian-inspired setting. She has also written for Star Wars, Magic: The Gathering, Pathfinder, and DC Comics. She is a bisexual and biracial Puerto Rican living in Brooklyn, New York, with her two partners.

CRIS ASCUNCE is a Miami native whose journey from advertising to novel writing was as curvy as her Cuban roots. After years of crafting clever slogans to lure visitors to Miami and armed with a degree in advertising from Florida International University, she embarked on a successful career in the travel industry. But as time passed, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had more to offer the world. My Best Plan (Bella Books) is Ascunce's debut novel. She lives in Miami with her wife of 20 years and their canine and feline daughters.

New York Times bestselling author MATEO ASKARIPOUR wants people to feel seen. His first book, Black Buck: A Novel (Mariner Books), takes on racism in corporate America with humor and wit. He was chosen as one of Entertainment Weekly’s “10 rising stars to make waves,” and Black Buck was a "Read with Jenna" Today show book club pick. Most recently, Askaripour was named a National Book Foundation’s "5 Under 35" author. This Great Hemisphere: A Novel (Dutton) is Askaripour’s second novel. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

ALEX ASTER is a No. 1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author; an internationally bestselling author; and one of the most followed novelists on social media. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied creative writing, and is also the author of the critically acclaimed Emblem Island series. Explore the world of Lightlark at asterverse.com.