Nicole Shawan Junior is a black, queer & justice-involved counter-storyteller. Her writing appears in Lambda Literary’s anthology Emerge, Gay Mag, Zora, The Feminist Wire, Color Bloq, For Harriet, and more. A Bread Loaf & Hurston/Wright alum, Nicole’s received literary residencies and fellowships from various arts organizations including Hedgebrook, the New York Foundation for the Arts, Lambda Literary, and Sundress Academy for the Arts. Nicole’s completing Cracked Concrete: A Memoir of Crackheads, Cousins & Crime. She’s the creator of both the Roots. Wounds. Words. Writing Workshop & COUNTERpult – a Brooklyn-based reading series that centers the narratives of QT/BIPoC storytellers. Learn more about Nicole at www.NicoleShawanJunior.com. Follow her on Instagram and Facebook @NicoleShawanJunior and on Twitter @NicoleShawan.
Gary Percesepe
Gary Percesepe is the author of eleven books, including Moratorium: Collected Stories, named by Kirkus Review one of the top 100 Indie books of 2022. He is Associate