Robert W. Fieseler is a journalist investigating marginalized groups and a scholar excavating forgotten histories. A NLGJA Journalist of the Year and recipient of the Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship, his debut book Tinderbox won seven awards, including the Edgar Award, and his reporting has appeared in Slate, Salon, and River Teeth, among others. Fieseler’s second queer…

Miah Jeffra is author of four books—most recently The Violence Almanac (finalist for several awards, including the Grace Paley and Robert C Jones Book Prizes) and the novel American Gospel, finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Prize—and is co-editor, with Arisa White and Monique Mero, of the anthology Home is Where You Queer Your Heart. Miah is…

Michael Lowenthal is the author of a story collection, Sex with Strangers, and four novels: The Same Embrace, Avoidance, Charity Girl (a New York Times Book Review “Editors’ Choice” and a Washington Post “Top Fiction of 2007” pick), and The Paternity Test (an Indie Next selection and a Lambda Literary Award finalist). The recipient of…

Carly Mathas, born and raised in New Orleans, is mostly found spending her time writing essays and poems about her childhood, her mother, and her daunting fear of what life has to offer. If she is not writing, then you can find her reading everything but the assignments she is given. She has won a…

Michelle Antoinette Nelson, also known as LOVE the poet, is a versatile creative with a passion for storytelling and performance. As a poet, host, photographer, and author, she has made significant contributions to the national performance and literary art scenes. Michelle has previously appeared on CNN, authored the books Black Marks on White Paper and…

Jamie Wax recently made his Broadway debut as a playwright with the extended run of Call Me Izzy starring Jean Smart. He began his diverse career by touring as a stand-up comic in his teens. He went on to perform his acclaimed solo shows throughout the country. With composer Paul Taranto he created the musical…

Sara Warner is an Associate Professor in the Department of Performing and Media Arts at Cornell University. She is the author of the award-winning book, Acts of Gaiety: LGBT Performance and the Politics of Pleasure, and is completing the first full-length biography of Lorraine Hansberry’s lesbian life and art. She grew up in Lacombe and…

Quinn Schwab writes all genres, but is mainly a poet. She won a gold key and a silver key for the Scholastic Writing Awards. Quinn is an editor for Umbra. She’s a full-time listener of music and dreams of having a house full of instruments and cats.

Jyna N. Roots is a Washington, D.C. native, mother, playwright, educator, and proud alumna of Dillard University, the first HBCU in the nation to grant a degree in theatre. A self-described preservation performance artist and curator, her work is grounded in honoring the legacy of those who came before, often produced in non-traditional performance spaces.…

Brian Sands is an award-winning playwright who has had works produced by Southern Rep Theater, the Contemporary Arts Center, See ‘Em On Stage: A Production Company, and Dillard University, among others. Since 2002, he has been the Theater/Performing Arts critic for Ambush Magazine, the largest and oldest LGBTQ publication in the Gulf South, covering local…