Mahogany L. Browne is a California-born, Brooklyn-based writer, organizer, mentor, and curator. She has published several books of poetry and facilitates performance poetry and writing workshops throughout the country. She is an Agnes Gund, Cave Canem, AIR Serenbe, Poets House, Rauschenberg fellow, and the current artistic director of Urban Word NYC. Her previous books for young readers include Woke Baby and Black Girl Magic.
Theodore Taylor III is an artist and designer. He is the winner of the John Steptoe New Talent Award for his work in When the Beat Was Born, and is the illustrator of Woke Baby. He lives in Richmond, Virginia, with his wife and their very own woke baby.
Elizabeth Acevedo is the New York Times bestselling author of the National Book Award-winning novel, The Poet X. She holds a BA in Performing Arts from The George Washington University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland. She resides in Washington, DC with her partner.
Olivia Gatwood has received national recognition for her poetry, writing workshops, and work as a Title IX Compliant educator in sexual assault prevention and recovery. She is a finalist at Brave New Voices, Women of the World and the National Poetry Slam. Olivia has been featured on HBO, Huffington Post, MTV, VH1, and BBC, and she has performed internationally at over two-hundred schools and universities. Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, she now lives in Boston, Massachusetts. Olivia's poetry books include Woke, Life of the Party, and New American Best Friend.
Jason Reynolds is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author. Jason’s many books include Miles Morales: Spider Man, the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu), and Long Way Down, which received both a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor. His novel, Look Both Ways, was a National Book Award Finalist. Jason has appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and CBS This Morning. He is on faculty at Lesley University, for the Writing for Young People MFA Program and lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at his website.
Mahogany L. Browne: The Cave Canem, Poets House and Serenbe Focus Fellow alum is the author of several books including
Swag&Dear Twitter: Love Letters Hashed Out On-line, recommended by Small Press Distribution&listed as About.com Best Poetry Books of 2010. She has released five LPs and is co-founder of Brooklyn Slam (currently ranked 2nd in the world) and has toured Germany, Amsterdam, England, Canada and recently Australia as 1/3 of the cultural arts exchange project Global Poetics. Her journalism work has been published in magazines Uptown, KING, XXL, The Source, Canada's The Word and UK's MOBO. Her poetry has been published in literary journals Pluck, Manhattanville Review, Muzzle, Union Station Mag, Literary Bohemian, Bestiary Brown Girl Love and Up The Staircase. She is the Artistic Director of Urban Word NYC (as seen on HBO’s Brave New Voices) and facilitates performance poetry and writing workshops throughout the country. She is the publisher of Penmanship Books, curator&FridayNight Slam host at Nuyorican Poets Café, and Program Director of BLM@Pratt Institute. She also is a recipient of an Agnes Gund Art for Justice award.
Elizabeth Acevedo is the
New York Times bestselling author of
With the Fire on High and National Book Award-winning novel
The Poet X. She holds a BA in Performing Arts from The George Washington University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland. She resides in Washington, DC with her partner.
Theodore Taylor III is a children's book author and illustrator living in Richmond, Virginia with his wife Sarah and son Theo. He is the illustrator of Woke, Woke Baby, and the New York Times bestselling C is for Country by Lil Was X. He also received the Coretta Scott King John Steptoe New Talent Award for his work on When The Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop. He is also the illustrator behind Shaquille O'Neal's Little Shaq Series. During the day he also works as a front-end web developer. His work is inspired by his love of music, comics, animation, video games, street art, and more. He is also a self-proclaimed pizza connoisseur.
Jason Reynolds is a
New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, National Book Award Honoree, a Kirkus Award winner, a two time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors. Reynolds was named the American Booksellers Association’s 2017 and 2018 spokesperson for Indies First, and served as the national spokesperson for the 2018 celebration of School Library Month in April 2018, sponsored by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). Jason’s many works of fiction include
When I Was the Greatest,
Boy in the Black Suit,
All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely),
As Brave As You,
For Every One,
Miles Morales: Spider Man, the Track series (
Ghost,
Patina,
Sunny, and
Lu), and
Long Way Down, which received both a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor. His novel,
Look Both Ways, was a National Book Award Finalist. Jason has appeared on
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,
Late Night with Seth Meyers, and
CBS This Morning. He is on faculty at Lesley University, for the Writing for Young People MFA Program and lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.