From Jamaica and born to a Jamaican father and Venezuelan mother, SHARA MCCALLUM is the author of seven poetry books published in the U.S. and U.K., including most recently Behold (Alice James Books). Awards for her work include a Guggenheim fellowship, Musgrave Medal, NEA fellowship, Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for No Ruined Stone, OCM Bocas Caribbean Poetry Prize for Madwoman, and the Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize for The Water Between Us, among others. She teaches at Penn State University and served as the Penn State laureate from 2021-2022.