CAMILLE ACKER (she/her) is the author of the short story collection Training School for Negro Girls. She grew up in Washington, D.C. and holds a B.A. in English from Howard University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from New Mexico State University. Her writing has received support from Tin House, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, and the Millay Colony for the Arts. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, and Electric Literature, among other publications. She has taught students across the country at universities and in community arts organizations. In 2020, she was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and in 2022, she was named a Fellow by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. She has two books under contract with Random House and lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with her partner.

MINDA HONEY’s (she/her) debut memoir, THE HEARTBREAK YEARS, is a hilarious and intimate portrait of a Black woman finding who she is and who she wants to be, one bad date at a time. Her essays on politics and relationships have appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Oxford American, Teen Vogue, and Longreads. Her work is featured in “Burn It Down: Women Writing About Anger”, “A Measure of Belonging: Writers of Color on the New American South”, and “Sex and the Single Woman: 24 Writers Reimagine Helen Gurley Brown's Cult Classic. She is the editor of Black Joy at Reckon — the newsletter has nearly 60K subscribers.

MELANIA LUISA MARTE (she/her) is a writer, poet, and musician from New York living between the Dominican Republic and Texas. Her viral poem “Afro-Latina” was featured by Instagram on their IG TV for National Poetry Month and has garnered over nine million views. Her work has also been featured by Ain’t I Latina, AfroPunk, The Root, Teen Vogue, Telemundo, Refinery29, PopSugar, and elsewhere. Plantains and Our Becoming is her debut.

Keir Alekseii's career started as Jen Azantian's mentee in 2021 at Azantian Literary Agency. They became an associate agent with Azantian in 2022. She is an educator and anti-GBV activist born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago. Keir is a writer, gamer, lover of folklore, and former research scientist. As a neurodivergent, queer person of color, Keir is invested in discovering engaging work with similar representation, and passionate about creating space for voices not often recognized. They are especially interested in stories from BIPOC born and raised in the Global South. Keir still lives in T&T with their family.

Saritza Hernández of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency came to agenting from a publishing industry background and has been a literary agent for 13 years. Based in Orlando, Florida, she is a passionate advocate of the BIPOC & LGBTQ+ communities. She enjoys fresh voices in Children’s and Adult commercial fiction and select non-fiction. Her client titles include: Till the Last Beat of My Heart by Louangie Bou-Montes (2024), Jewel Me Twice by Charish Reid (2024), How to Dungeon Master Parenting by Shelly Mazzanoble (2024), Unexpecting by Jen Bailey (2023), Does My Body Offend You by Mayra Cuevas (2022), Mambo and Murder by Raquel Reyes (2022).

Kat joined Donald Maass Literary Agency in 2019. She graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelors in English in 2009 and is drawn to literary and commercial voices within the adult and YA markets, as well as adult nonfiction. Kat feels strongly about supporting programs like We Need Diverse Books and is passionate about creating space in this industry for those from historically marginalized communities. She is always on the lookout for magical realism, literary leaning speculative and science fiction, women’s fiction, YA works with a lot of heart, and narrative nonfiction with something to say.

Dior J. Stephens (they/he), a proud Pisces hailing from Lake Erie, is the author of three chapbooks, with their debut full-length collection, CRUEL/CRUEL, now available from Nightboat Books. Dior has been recognized as a Cave Canem, Lambda Literary, and Sewanee fellow. They previously served as the Managing Poetry Editor before moving into the co-ElC role at Foglifter Journal and Press. Dior’s work can be found in journals such as HaveHasHad, Peach Mag, Somesuch Stories, and fourteen poems, among others.

B. Sharise Moore is a multi-genre author, curriculum developer, workshop facilitator, and Poetry Editor for FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction. In 2021, she released her YA novel, Dr. Marvellus Djinn’s Odd Scholars and in 2022, she curated and edited Conjuring Worlds: An Afrofuturist Textbook for Middle and High School Students. Moore’s forthcoming books include Fangs, Feathers, and Folklore: Africa’s Amazing Creatures, A City Dream, and Golden: a Story of Yaa Asantewaa from Little Brown Books for Young Readers and HarperCollins (2025, 2026). She lives in Baltimore, MD with her husband and their two inquisitive children.

Michal ‘MJ’ Jones is a poet & parent in Oakland, CA. They have a debut full-length poetry collection HOOD VACATIONSfrom Black Lawrence Press, and a chapbook, SOFT ARMOR, from Nomadic Press, both forthcoming in 2023.

Khalisa Rae is an award-winning poet, author, community organizer, and the co-founder of the Griot & Grey Owl Black Southern Writers. With fierce rebellion, her poignant words, commitment to community, and writing mentorship have impacted thousands.

Eric ‘LB’ Thompson, Lyrically Blessed, is a multi-talented writer and lyricist that hails from the city of Wilson NC. He is a NC A&T alum, Bull City Slam Team member, Watering Hole fellow, Southern Fried Poetry Slam champion, National Poetry Slam Semi-finalist, Bull City Grand slam Champion, workshop facilitator and much more.

Asma Olajuwon is a first-generation Nigerian-American Muslim woman originally from Houston, Texas. She is a painter and poet now based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. She has been an artist as long as she could remember. She especially works to uplift black and Muslim women.

Christopher Massenburg, better known as Dasan Ahanu, is co-founder and managing director of Black Poetry Theatre, a Durham based theatre company that creates and produces original poetry and spoken word based productions. In 2010 and 2014, Ahanu led the Bull City Slam Team in winning the Southern Fried Southeastern Regional Poetry Slam, the largest regional poetry slam in the country.

Junious 'Jay' Ward is a poet and teaching artist from Charlotte, NC. He is a National Slam champion (2018), an Individual World Poetry Slam champion (2019), author of Sing Me A Lesser Wound (Bull City Press 2020) and Composition (Button Poetry 2023). Jay currently serves as Charlotte's inaugural Poet Laureate and is a 2023 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow.