Nandi Comer is an award-winning poet and essayist. She was appointed as Michigan's poet laureate in 2023, becoming the state's first poet laureate since the 1950s. Nandi Comer  served as the 2nd Poet Laureate of the state of Michigan from 2023 to 2025. She is the author of the chapbook,   American Family: A Syndrome   (Finishing Line Press). Her debut poetry collection, Tapping Out  (Triquarterly)  won the Society of Midland Authors Award and Julie Suk Award. She has received

Shia Shabazz Smith is a writer-director and educator based in Oakland, California. With over 20 years of storytelling across mediums,...

Shy-Zahir Moses (they/them) is a Black person, poet, and educator from Dallas, Texas, whose poems appear in Callaloo , Dialogist , and A...

Kendra Allen is a multi-genre award-winning author from Dallas, Texas, whose debut novel Like The People Do  is forthcoming in 2026....

Princess Usanga is a Miami-based director and writer with Haitian and Nigerian roots, born in Queens, New York. Her storytelling delves...