2022 International Literary Festival - Hybrid In-Person & Virtual Festival July 23rd-September 1st, 2022 - Kweli Journal
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2022
International
Literary Festival
Hybrid In-Person & Virtual Festival
July 23rd–September 1st, 2022
Co-sponsored by
A Note on the Cover
Maaza Mengiste provided the archival photograph that Kweli
used as cover art for #KweliLitFest22. “It took a very long
time to come across this picture of a young girl who fit the
mental image I had of Hirut in The Shadow King,” she wrote.
“To those women and girls of Ethiopia who would not let
themselves be completely erased by history, who stood up
when I was looking for them and made themselves known. I
see you. I will always see you.”
—— Welcome ——
to the
2022 Kweli
International
Literary Festival!
The 2022 Kweli International Literary Festival has been
reimagined as a hybrid, in-person and virtual, festival.
Maaza Mengiste and Rio Cortez will be our keynote
speakers. Readings, conversations, masterclasses, and
workshops will span from July 23rd through September
1st. We’re honored that you chose to spend this time with
us, and we hope that you leave educated, energized, and
inspired to keep writing. The world needs to hear
your voice. Thank you for your beautiful work.
4 Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22
2022 Kweli International
Literary Festival
SOCIAL MEDIA ANTI-HARASSMENT POLICY
The official conference hashtag is #KweliLitFest22. Feel free to The Kweli Festival is dedicated to providing a safe, respectful,
post pictures and share wisdom throughout the day, but please and harassment-free conference experience for everyone,
also respect any presenters’ requests not to share material from regardless of gender identity or expression, sexual orientation,
their sessions. Please tag and follow @kwelijournal on Twitter disability, body size, race, age, or religion. We will not tolerate
and Facebook, and @kweli.journal on Instagram. harassment or abuse in any form of festival attendees or
presenters. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are
BOOK SALES are handled by Word Up Bookstore. expected to comply immediately; those judged to violate these
Please support the authors and artists who share their work and guidelines may be expelled from the festival without a refund
talents with us! at the discretion of the festival organizers. Should you wish
to report an incident, please approach assistant coordinators
Chantel Kelly or Emily Mei Lau during the day, or e-mail
AGENT AND EDITOR CONSULTATIONS kwelijournal@gmail.com afterward.
will take place during the lunch hour on Saturday, July 23.
ANY REMAINING CONCERNS
OR QUESTIONS?
Please ask a member of the festival staff.
KWELI THANKS ITS SUPPORTERS
AND SPONSORS
National Endowment for the Arts
Times Reads/The New York Times
Writers House
Victoria Sanders & Associates
& Literary Magazine
New York State Council on the Arts Fund Grant
CLMP Literary Magazine Fund / Amazon Literary Partnership
Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns
John Blackman Sr. Foundation
Whiting Foundation
Carl Lennertz
Suzanne McFayden
FESTIVAL PLANNING COMMITTEE
Laura Pegram, Executive Director • Iwalani Kim
Emily Mei Lau • Ozier Muhammad • Chantel Kelly
John Blackman Sr.
Grace Kim • Di Jayawickrema • Maya Garcia Fisher Foundation
Annabella Correa Maynard • Abhi Alwar, Graphic Designer
Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22 5
Program Schedule
Saturday, July 23, 2022 | Barnard College
9:00am | Check-in
9:45am | Welcome by Laura Pegram
10:00am | Keynote Conversation: To Decolonize the Archives
Maaza Mengiste, The Shadow King
Moderator: Laura Pegram
11:00am | Kweli Alum on Craft and Community
Daphne Palasi Andreades, Brown Girls
Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa, A Woman of Endurance
Cleyvis Natera, Neruda on the Park
Christine Kandic Torres, The Girls in Queens
Moderator: Nadia Owusu, Aftershocks, A Memoir
12:00pm | Lunch/ Pitch Sessions / Book Sale and Signing
1:00pm | On Longing and Desire
Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Big Girl: A Novel
Moderator: Nicole Dennis-Benn, Patsy
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2:00pm | What Do Agents and Editors Look For?
Caroline Bleeke, Executive Editor at Flatiron Books
Renée Jarvis, Agent at Triangle House Literary
Roma Panganiban, Agent at Janklow & Nesbit
Marie Pantojan, Editor at Random House
Moderator: Iwalani Kim, Agent at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates
3:00pm | Archive and Art
Tanaïs, In Sensorium, Notes for my People
Moderator: Hannah Bae
4:00pm | On Muslim Girlhood
Safia Elhillo, Girls That Never Die
Moderator: Nadia Owusu, Aftershocks, A Memoir
5:00pm | Prose and Poetry
Nikky Finney, Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry: Poems & Artifacts
Moderator: Tyehimba Jess, Olio
6:00pm | Closing / Book Sale and Signing
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Reading & Conversation Series
All events are free and open to the public
TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 7:00 PM EST
Morgan Talty on Night of the Living Rez with Kenzie Allen
» Register: crowdcast.io/e/morgan-talty-on-night-of
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 7:00 PM EST
Kemi Alabi on Against Heaven with Omotara James
» Register: www.crowdcast.io/e/kemi-alabi-on-against
TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 7:00 PM EST
Oscar Hokeah on Calling for A Blanket Dance with Santee Frazier
» Register: www.crowdcast.io/e/oscar-hokeah-on-calling
THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 7:00 PM EST
Kelly Lytle Hernández on Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire, and Revolution in the Borderlands
» Register: www.crowdcast.io/e/kelly-lytle-hernandez-on
TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 7:00 PM EST
Remica Bingham Risher on Soul Culture: Black Poets, Books, and Questions that Grew Me Up with Honorée
Fanonne Jeffers
» Register: www.crowdcast.io/e/remica-bingham-risher-on
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 7:00 PM EST
LaToya Watkins on Perish
» Register: www.crowdcast.io/e/latoya-watkins-on-perish
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 7:00 PM EST
Closing Keynote with Rio Cortez
» Link will be available in August at kwelijournal.org/upcoming-events
8 Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22
Master Classes & Workshops
Surprise & Inevitability (Multi-session workshop) | Rachel Kondo
AUGUST 2 - SEPTEMBER 6, 2022; 8PM - 10PM EST
This six-week workshop will highlight endings as a means of looking at process. If a story can be
defined as a thoughtful organization of narrative elements, then how do some stories build to
endings that can feel both unexpected and somehow like the only possible conclusion? Through a
series of examples, we’ll look at a few of the decisions that were made in an attempt to arrive at
feelings of surprise and inevitability, moving us readers from aha! to of course…
Crafting Persona: Mirrors on the Page (Masterclass) | Tyehimba Jess
SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2022; 10:30AM - 1:30PM EST
This workshop will explore the ways of creating persona and understanding the search for self in the
search for the other. Utilizing research guides and techniques that uncover motivation, influence,
context, and material conditions, we will unlock empathy in order to better understand history,
ourselves, and the world’s current sociopolitical challenges.
Lindy Hopping and Poetry (Craft Talk) | Nikky Finney
SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2022; 2:00PM - 3:30PM EST
The Lindy Hop was a dance invented by Black Americans in Harlem in 1927-1928. The defining
movement of the Lindy Hop is the swing out. In the swing out, one partner pulls the other from an
open position into a closed position while pivoting 180 degrees, and then swings the partner back to
the original starting position. Poet Nikky Finney often uses the terminology of seemingly disparate
but equally mesmerizing things in the world to inspire her to get closer to what she would like to
achieve in her own work -- dramatic and memorable poetry. Nikky believes the swing out is a critical
move in poetry writing. This workshop focuses on how to recognize the closed position and how to
leap into the breakaway moment. This workshop situates itself in when and how to swing out!
Beyond Truth: Writing the Mystical, the “Otherworldly,” and the Invented Essay
(Masterclass) | Jaquira Díaz
SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2022; 4:00PM - 7:00PM EST
Most often, creative nonfiction deals with truth and reality. But there is room in memoir and
personal essay for speculation, imagination, and experimentation. And more importantly, for some
of us, what the dominant culture considers mystical or “otherworldly” is innate: we pass down
oral stories and family lore, we commune with our dead, we live with our ghosts, our ancestors
guide us in very real ways. Let’s talk about writing spirituality. Let’s celebrate writing about magic,
visions, hauntings, ghosts, monsters. Let’s move beyond truth, beyond just the facts, toward seeing
Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22 9
the world with a sense of wonder and curiosity. Let’s work toward something that is just as real:
emotional truth. We’ll begin with a short lecture, then move on to a discussion, looking at ways to
reimagine what is possible, alternate histories and realities, working with metaphor rather than the
literal, deliberately moving backward and/or forward in time, and suggesting new ways of seeing
and thinking about reality and imagination in the essay and memoir. Finally, we’ll have short writing
exercises.
The Role of Research in Writing Creative Nonfiction (Masterclass) | Hannah Bae
SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 2022; 11AM - 2PM EST
When it comes to writing creative nonfiction, investigating the past is key to understanding our
present. In this generative, craft-based class, writers of all experience levels will learn about how
they can draw from research, reporting and history – memories, photographs, archives, myths,
language and other sources – to inform their writing. We’ll work through some writing prompts,
have opportunities for writers to share what they’ve generated, and talk about how any writer can
incorporate research into their process, weaving in facts and history to invigorate our personal
narratives, ultimately allowing our stories to move beyond the strictly individual realm.
Writing as Reclamation (Masterclass) | Nadia Owusu
SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 2022; 11AM - 2PM EST
Many of us write to make sense of the world and to wrestle with questions about our own histories,
and the histories of our families and the places we come from. We write to process trauma, grief,
isolation, dislocation, and disconnection. But what if we discover that so many of the stories we’ve
been given about our bodies, ourselves, our homes, and our places in them don’t serve us? What
if we discover that some of those stories were created to harm us? We’ll explore what sources
we might draw from when the archive and media fail us, how we can interrogate, complicate, and
challenge harmful dominant narratives, and how we can reclaim and remake our stories toward
healing, self-love, and a reimagined world.
Plot, Narrative Structure, and Theme: Bringing It All Together (Masterclass) |
David Heska Wanbli Weiden
SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2022; 2:00PM - 3:30PM EST
SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 2022; 2:00PM - 3:30PM EST
In this fiction seminar, we’ll examine in detail the standard three-act plot design, as well as
techniques and strategies to improve the arc of your work. We will also examine alternatives to
the standard model and contemplate the possibility of decolonized narrative structures. We’ll also
look at developing and incorporating the theme of your book, as well as using setting to reflect
your thematic elements. We’ll consider examples from various writers, and conclude with a writing
exercise, followed by a dialogue and discussion.
10 Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22Uses of the Sonic: The Sonic as Power (Craft Talk) | Kemi Alabi
SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2022; 2:00PM - 3:30PM EST
How can poems live in what Fred Moten describes as “the space between the laws of music and the
laws of meaning?” Can poets harness the power and pleasure of sound to create a new collective
sense-making? Drawing on Black radical traditions and Audre Lorde’s pivotal essay “Uses of the
Erotic: The Erotic as Power,” this talk will explore the transformative potential of sound play and lyric
knowledge.
Reading Your Work With an Editor’s Eye, and Understanding Publishing (Craft
Talk) | Megha Majumdar
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2022; 11:00AM - 12:30PM EST
In the first part of this class, we will consider how an acquisitions editor might read your work—what
they might look for in an opening, and what questions they might ask of a manuscript. We will think
about how writers might draw upon an editor’s toolkit to strengthen their own pages. Then, in the
second part of this class, which is more career-focused, we will discuss the acquisitions process
as well as publishing process, answering practical questions (When should you look for an agent?
What kind of edits will an editor do with you? What else can you expect from your editor beyond
work on the text?). I encourage participants to come with specific questions relating to their
own manuscripts and publishing goals. At the end of the session, I hope participants feel that the
acquisitions and publishing process has been demystified to some degree.
Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22 11Faculty Bios
Kemi Alabi
they/them/theirs | kemialabi.com | @kemiaalabi
Kemi Alabi is the author of Against Heaven (Graywolf Press, 2022), selected by Claudia
Rankine as winner of the Academy of American Poets First Book Award, and coeditor of The
Echoing Ida Collection (Feminist Press, 2021). Their work appears in The Atlantic, The Nation,
Poetry, Boston Review, The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2, and elsewhere. Alabi is a MacDowell, Pink
Door, Tin House, and Sewanee Writers’ Conference Fellow who creates cultural strategy
projects with organizers and movement-builders. Born in Wisconsin on a Sunday in July, they
now live in Chicago, IL.
» One book/author you want more people to read: america, MINE by Sasha Banks
Kenzie Allen
she/her/hers | kenzieallen.com | @cerena
Kenzie Allen is a descendant of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. She is the recipient of
a 92Y Discovery Prize, a James Welch Award for Indigenous Poets, and fellowships from
Aspen Summer Words, Vermont Studio Center, and In-Na-Po. Kenzie received her Ph.D.
from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, her M.F.A. from the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at
University of Michigan, and a B.A. in Anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis.
Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Narrative Magazine, Best New Poets, Boston
Review, Poetry Magazine, and other venues. She currently lives in Toronto.
» One book/author you want more people to read: How to Dress a Fish by Abigail Chabitnoy
12 Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22Daphne Palasi Andreades
she/her/hers | daphnepalasiandreades.com | @Daphnepalasia
Daphne Palasi Andreades was born and raised in Queens, New York. Her debut novel, Brown
Girls, was published in January 2022 by Random House, and was selected as a New York
Times Editor’s Choice, an Indies Next Pick, and featured on ‘Most Anticipated’ lists in major
outlets such as The Guardian, Chicago Review of Books, Electric Lit, and more. Brown Girls is
now available in the UK and Commonwealth and is forthcoming in France and Germany. A
graduate of CUNY and Columbia University’s MFA Fiction program, Daphne is now at work
on several projects, including her second novel.
» Next book to watch for: Brown Girls - paperback, Nov. 2022
» One book/author you want more people to read: Julie Otsuka
Kukuwa Ashun | Editorial Assistant, Flatiron Books
she/her/hers | kukuwaashun.com | @kooooks_
Kukuwa Ashun is a writer and editor from Brooklyn, New York. She holds a BA from SUNY
Purchase and an MFA in fiction from New York University. Currently, she works in the
editorial department at Flatiron Books where she’s looking to acquire literary, upmarket,
and/or historical fiction with a focus on uplifting Black/Afro-identifying writers, along with
narratives that have been historically underrepresented in literature.
» Next book to watch for: Currently editing forthcoming debut novel by Inci Atrek,
Holiday Country (Winter 2024)
» One book/author you want more people to read: The Barefoot Woman by
Scholastique Mukasonga
Hannah Bae
she/her/hers | hannahbae.com | @hanbae / @hannahbae
Hannah Bae is a journalist and nonfiction writer who is at work on a memoir about family
estrangement. She is a 2020 winner of the Rona Jaffe Writers’ Award, and a 2021 and 2022
Peter Taylor fellow for The Kenyon Review Writers Workshops. She has received fellowships,
teaching opportunities and residencies from Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Kundiman,
Ragdale, the Peter Bullough Foundation and other organizations.
» Next book to watch for: Forthcoming Nov. 1, 2022: my contribution to the anthology
Our Red Book: Intimate Histories of Periods, Growing & Changing
» One book/author you want more people to read: This is One Way to Dance by Sejal Shah
Remica Bingham-Risher
she/her/hers | remicabinghamrisher.com | @remicawriter
Remica Bingham-Risher’s work has been published in The New York Times, The Writer’s
Chronicle, Callaloo and Essence. She is the author of Conversion (Lotus, 2006), What We Ask
of Flesh (Etruscan, 2013) and Starlight & Error (Diode, 2017). In August 2022, her book Soul
Culture: Black Poets, Books and Questions That Grew Me Up will be published by Beacon Press.
She is the Director of Quality Enhancement Plan Initiatives at Old Dominion University in
Norfolk, VA, where she resides with her husband and children.
» One book/author you want more people to read: Breath Better Spent by DaMaris Hill
Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22 13Caroline Bleeke | Executive Editor, Flatiron Books
she/her/hers | flatironbooks.com/staff | @cableeke
Executive Editor Caroline Bleeke publishes literary and upmarket fiction and select
nonfiction at Flatiron Books, with an emphasis on underrepresented voices, historical
fiction, clever retellings, family sagas, coming-of-age stories, innovative structure and
style, writing with a strong sense of place, and lots of heart. Her authors at Flatiron include
Angie Cruz, Saraciea Fennell, Nina LaCour, Charlotte McConaghy, Margarita Montimore,
Melinda Moustakis, Neel Patel, Bushra Rehman, Jennifer Saint, Jenny Tinghui Zhang, and
many others. Originally from St. Louis, she began her career at Alfred A. Knopf and holds a
Master’s degree in Eighteenth-Century and Romantic Literature.
» Submission guidelines: As a policy, we only accept agented submissions at Flatiron Books.
» Next book to watch for: Bushra Rehman’s Roses, In The Mouth Of A Lion (December 6, 2022)
» One book/author you want more people to read: The Office of Historical Corrections by
Danielle Evans
Rio Cortez
she/her/hers | riocortez.com | @ohreallyrio
Rio Cortez is the New York Times bestselling author of picture books The ABCs of Black
History (Workman, 2020) and The River Is My Sea (S&S, 2024). Her debut poetry collection,
Golden Ax, is available now from Penguin Poets.
By day, Rio works in sales & marketing at HarperCollins, where she endeavors to amplify the
voices and opportunities for BIPOC writers. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, she now lives,
writes, and works in Harlem.
» Next book to watch for: The River Is My Sea
» One book/author you want more people to read: The Names of All the Flowers by
Melissa Valentine
Nicole Dennis-Benn
she/her/hers | nicoledennisbenn.com
@ndennisbenn / @ndennis_benn / facebook.com/NicoleDennisBenn
Nicole Dennis-Benn is the author of Here Comes the Sun (Norton/Liveright, July 2016), a
New York Times Notable Book of the Year and a 2017 Lambda Literary Award winner. Her
bestselling sophomore novel, Patsy (Norton/Liveright, June 2019), is a 2020 Lambda
Literary Award winner, a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a Financial Times Critics Choice,
a Stonewall Book Awards Honor Book, and a Today Show Read With Jenna Book Club
selection. Patsy has been named Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, TIME, NPR,
PEOPLE Magazine, Washington Post, Apple Books, Oprah Magazine, The Guardian,
Goodhousekeeping, BuzzFeed, ELLE, among others.
» One book/author you want more people to read: Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwasi
14 Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22Jaquira Díaz
she/her/hers | jaquiradiaz.com | @jaquiradiaz
Jaquira Díaz was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Miami. She is the author of Ordinary Girls:
A Memoir (Algonquin Books, 2019), one of the most anticipated books of Fall 2019. O: The
Oprah Magazine said, “[Ordinary Girls] belongs on your must-read lists. Díaz is a masterful
writer.” Ordinary Girls was a Summer/Fall 2019 Indies Introduce Selection, a Fall 2019 Barnes
& Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection, a November 2019 Indie Next Pick, and a
Library Reads October pick. Her second book, I Am Deliberate: A Novel, is forthcoming from
Algonquin Books.
» Next book to watch for: I Am Deliberate: A Novel, forthcoming from Algonquin Books
» One book/author you want more people to read: Elissa Washuta’s White Magic
Safia Elhillo
she/her/hers | beotis.com/safiaelhillo | @safiamafia
Safia Elhillo is the author of The January Children (University of Nebraska Press, 2017), which
received the the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets and an Arab American Book
Award, Girls That Never Die (One World/Random House 2022), and the novel in verse Home
Is Not A Country (Make Me A World/Random House, 2021). With Fatimah Asghar, she is
co-editor of the anthology Halal If You Hear Me (Haymarket Books, 2019). She was a Wallace
Stegner Fellow at Stanford University and lives in Los Angeles.
» Next book to watch for: Girls That Never Die by Safia Elhillo (One World/Random House, 2022)
Nikky Finney
she/her/hers | nikkyfinney.net | facebook.com/PoetFinney
Nikky Finney was born by the sea in South Carolina and raised during the Civil Rights, Black
Power, and Black Arts Movements. She is the author of On Wings Made of Gauze; Rice; The
World Is Round; and Head Off & Split, which won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2011.
Her new collection of poems, Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry, was released in 2020
from TriQuarterly Books/Northwestern University Press.
Santee Frazier
he/him/his
Santee Frazier is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. He received his BFA from
the Institute of American Indian Arts and his MFA from Syracuse University. He has received
fellowships from the Lannan Foundation, the School for Advanced Research and the Native
Arts and Cultures Foundation. Frazier’s poems have appeared in Ontario Review, American
Poet, Prairie Schooner, amongst others. The author of Dark Thirty (University of Arizona
Press, 2009), Frazier’s second collection of poems Aurum from the University of Arizona
Press was released in Fall 2019.
Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22 15Kelly Lytle Hernández
she/her/hers
MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Kelly Lytle Hernández’s BAD MEXICANS: Race, Empire, and
Revolution in the Borderlands (W. W. Norton & Company; May 10, 2022; $30.00 Hardcover)
is an exquisitely researched history that reads like a thriller. Written in prose described as
being “like a drug—riveting, intoxicating, vivid” (Robin D. G. Kelley), Bad Mexicans upends
entrenched ideas about the history of race, immigration, and violence in the United States.
Kelly Lytle Hernández holds The Thomas E. Lifka Endowed Chair in History and directs the
Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA. She is the author of the
award-winning books Migra! and City of Inmates. She lives in Los Angeles.
Oscar Hokeah
he/him/his | oscarhokeah.com | @OscarHokeah / @oscarhokeah
Oscar Hokeah is a citizen of Cherokee Nation and the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma from his
mother’s side and has Latinx heritage through his father. He holds an MA in English with a
concentration in Native American Literature from the University of Oklahoma, as well as
a BFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), with a minor
in Indigenous Liberal Studies. He is a recipient of the Truman Capote Scholarship Award
through IAIA and is also a winner of the Native Writer Award through the Taos Summer
Writers Conference. His short stories have been published in South Dakota Review, American
Short Fiction, Yellow Medicine Review, Surreal South, and Red Ink Magazine. He works with
Indian Child Welfare in Tahlequah.
» One book/author you want more people to read: The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
Omotara James
she/her/hers | omotarajames.com | @omotarajames
Omotara James is the author of the poetry collection, “Song of My Softening,” forthcoming
from Alice James Books, and the chapbook, “Daughter Tongue,” selected by African Poetry
Book Fund, in collaboration with Akashic Books, for the 2018 New Generation African Poets
Box Set.
James’ poems have been featured in The Poetry Foundation, The Paris Review online, The
Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day series, The Believer, Literary Hub, and elsewhere.
Her work has been supported by New York Foundation for the Arts, The Bread Loaf Writers
Conference, City Artist Corps Grants, Café Royale Cultural Foundation, The Palm Beach
Poetry Festival. She’s the recipient of a 92Y/ Discovery Poetry Award; a Nancy P. Schnader
Academy of American Poets Prize and was a finalist for the Brunel International African
Poetry Prize in 2019. She is a fellow of the Cave Canem Foundation and Lambda Literary.
» Next book to watch for: The Pan-Africans
» One book/author you want more people to read: All the Blood Involved in Love by Maya Marshall
16 Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22Renée Jarvis | Agent, Triangle House Literary
she/her/hers | triangle.house/literary | @Renoiriste
Renée Jarvis is an agent at Triangle House Literary. Born and raised in New York City, she
graduated from Brooklyn College with a BFA in Creative Writing. She previously worked as
an assistant and agent at MacKenzie Wolf Literary and spent two years as a writing teacher
at the non-profit organization Legal Outreach.
Renée is seeking narrative nonfiction, adult speculative, upmarket, and literary fiction, and
children’s books. She is looking for works that center POC and LGBTQIA+ voices and is
particularly drawn to the work of Black writers across the African diaspora. In nonfiction, she
is interested in pop culture analysis, cultural histories, linguistics, food writing, international
stories, and explorations of music, fashion, and art. In fiction, she loves robust plots, bold
characters with a sense of humor, unique formats, stories that explore friendship and family,
and lyrical prose.
» Next book to watch for: THOT by Chante L. Reid (Sept 13, 2022)
» One book/author you want more people to read: Renee Gladman
Tyehimba Jess
he/him/his
Tyehimba Jess is the author of two books of poetry, Leadbelly and Olio. Olio won the 2017
Pulitzer Prize, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, The Midland Society Author’s Award in
Poetry, and received an Outstanding Contribution to Publishing Citation from the Black
Caucus of the American Library Association. It was also nominated for the National Book
Critics Circle Award, the PEN Jean Stein Book Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award.
Leadbelly was a winner of the 2004 National Poetry Series. The Library Journal and Black
Issues Book Review both named it one of the “Best Poetry Books of 2005.”
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
she/her/hers | honoreejeffers.com | @honoree_jeffers
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is a poet, novelist, and essayist. Her first novel, The Love Songs of
W.E.B. Du Bois, was an Oprah’s Book Club pick, won the National Book Critics Circle Award
for Fiction, and was included in “10 Best Books of 2021” lists for The New York Times, The
Washington Post, and TIME, among others. The author of five books of poetry, Honorée’s
latest collection, The Age of Phillis, won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary
Work: Poetry and the Lenore Marshall Prize for Poetry. Jeffers teaches at the University of
Oklahoma.
» Next book to watch for: Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays (forthcoming from
Harper 2023)
» One book/author you want more people to read: Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22 17Iwalani Kim | Associate Agent, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates
she/her/hers | greenburger.com/agent/iwalani-kim | @IwalaniKim
Iwalani is seeking upmarket/literary fiction. She’s especially interested in working with
Pacific Islander writers, across all genres. In fiction, she particularly loves coming-of-age (at
any age) and stories about complicated family dynamics. Fiction that’s steeped in a strong
sense of place or that features a distinct narrative voice often draws her in, and she loves
speculative work as well. Send her work that features lush prose, irreverent characters,
intergenerational grief and joy, and/or wry humor. Her favorite fiction writers include Raven
Leilani, Asali Solomon, Ling Ma, Dantiel Moniz, and Kali Fajardo-Anstine.
She’s also looking for narrative nonfiction, particularly memoir that plays with form and non-
linear storytelling; essay collections that take a deep dive into culture; and reportage from
experts in their field. She admires the work of Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, Alex Marzano-
Lesnevich, Hanif Abdurraqib, and Carmen Maria Machado.
» Seeking: Nonfiction, Realistic contemporary, Short stories
» Submission guidelines: Query Iwalani at ikim@sjga.com. Please put “Query: [your book’s
title] by [your name]” in the subject line and mention Kweli. Include a brief pitch letter
and the first few chapters in the body of your email.
» Next book to watch for: Every Drop Is A Man’s Nightmare by Megan Kakimoto
(Bloomsbury, August 2023)
» One book/author you want more people to read: Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson
Rachel Kondo
she/her/hers
Rachel Kondo was born and raised on Maui. Her writing has appeared in Electric Literature,
Ploughshares Solos, and Indiana Review. In 2019, her story, “Girl of Few Seasons,” was
included in The O. Henry Prize Stories, and selected as a juror favorite by Elizabeth Strout.
Along with Justin Marks, she co-created the FX/Hulu television production of SHŌGUN,
adapted from the novel by James Clavell. A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers,
she lives in Los Angeles and Maui.
» One book/author you want more people to read: Jun’ichirō Tanizaki
Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa
she/her/hers | DahlmaLlanosFigueroa.com | @writer1949 / @DahlmaLlanosFigueroa
Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa was born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York City. She is a
product of the Puerto Rican communities on the island and in the South Bronx. As a child
she was sent to live with her grandparents in Puerto Rico where she was introduced to the
culture of rural Puerto Rico, including the storytelling that came naturally to the women
in her family, especially the older women. Much of her work is based on her experiences
during this time. Llanos-Figueroa taught creative writing, language and literature in the New
York City school system before becoming a young-adult librarian and writer. The hardcover
edition of Daughters of the Stone was shortlisted as a 2010 Finalist for the PEN/Robert W.
Bingham Prize. Her second novel, A Woman of Endurance released in April 2022, the Spanish
18 Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22language edition, Indómita released in May 2022. Her short stories have been published
in anthologies and literary magazines such as Breaking Ground: Anthology of Puerto Rican
Women Writers in New York 1980-2012, Growing Up Girl, Afro-Hispanic Review, Pleaides, Latino
Book Review, Label Me Latina/o, and Kweli Journal. She lives in New York City.
» One book/author you want more people to read: Fruit of the Drunken Tree by
Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Megha Majumdar
she/her/hers | meghamajumdar.com | @MeghaMaj / @megha.maj
Megha Majumdar is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel A Burning (Knopf,
2020), which was nominated for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle’s
John Leonard Prize, and the American Library Association’s Andrew Carnegie Medal. It was
named one of the best books of the year by media including The Washington Post, The New
York Times, NPR, The Atlantic, Vogue, and TIME Magazine. A 2022 Whiting Award winner, she
was born and raised in Kolkata, India, and holds degrees in anthropology from Harvard and
Johns Hopkins. She lives in New York.
» One book/author you want more people to read: Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades
Maaza Mengiste
she/her/hers | maazamengiste.com ; project3541.com
@maazamengiste / @theshadowkingnovel / @project3541
Maaza Mengiste is the author of The Shadow King, shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, and
a recipient of the American Academy of Arts & Letters Award in Literature. It was named
a Best Book of 2019 by New York Times, NPR, Time, Elle, and other publications. Beneath the
Lion’s Gaze, her debut, was selected by the Guardian as one of the 10 best contemporary
African books. Maaza has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation,
DAAD, the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers, and the Fulbright Scholar Program.
» Next book to watch for: A Brief Portrait of Small Deaths (Bloomsbury Doubleday)
Cleyvis Natera
she/her/hers | cleyvisnatera.com | @CleyvisNatera
Cleyvis Natera is the author of Neruda on the Park. Her fiction, essays and criticism have
appeared in Alien Nation: 36 True Tales of Immigration, TIME, Gagosian Quarterly, The
Washington Post, The Rumpus, The Kenyon Review, Aster(ix) and Kweli Journal, among others.
Her honors include fellowships and awards from PEN America and the Bread Loaf Writers’
Conference, among others.
» One book/author you want more people to read: The Girls In Queens By Christine Kandic Torres
Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22 19Nadia Owusu
she/her/hers | nadiaaowusu.com | @nadiaowusu1 / @wheresnadia
Nadia Owusu is a Brooklyn-based writer and urbanist. Her memoir, Aftershocks, was selected
as a best book of 2021 by Time, Vogue, Esquire, NPR, and others. It was one of President
Barack Obama’s favorite books of the year, a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice,
and a 2021 Goodreads Choice Award nominee.
Nadia is a winner of the 2019 Whiting Award in nonfiction. Her writing has appeared in
The New York Times, Granta, The Paris Review Daily, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal,
Bon Appétit, and elsewhere. She teaches writing in the Mountainview MFA program and at
Columbia University.
» One book/author you want more people to read: If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by
Noor Naga
Roma Panganiban | Literary Agent, Janklow & Nesbit Associates
she/her/hers | manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/roma-panganiban | @romapancake
Roma Panganiban is building her client list at Janklow & Nesbit, where she has also closely
assisted three agents representing both the adult and children’s markets, fiction and
nonfiction, genre and literary—all of which she now represents, with a particular interest in
stories and storytellers from underrepresented perspectives and a soft spot for character-
driven narratives. Born and raised in North Jersey, she studied English and Psychology at
Allegheny College and Modern & Contemporary Literature at the University of York (UK),
and now lives in Brooklyn.
» Seeking: Middle-grade, Young adult, Nonfiction, Realistic contemporary, Science
Fiction & Fantasy, Mystery, Historical, Short stories
» Submission guidelines: Please submit your query, first 10 pages, and synopsis if
available to submissions@janklow.com with my full name and the word “QUERY” in the
subject line.
» One book/author you want more people to read: How It All Blew Up by Arvin Ahmadi
Marie Pantojan | Senior Editor, Random House
she/her/hers | atrandombooks.com | @merieberie
Marie Pantojan acquires across a wide range of serious and narrative nonfiction, and
select literary fiction. Across these categories, she looks for stories that are thoughtful,
intellectually engaging, and beautifully told. Before joining the imprint in 2019, Marie
worked at Liveright/W. W. Norton, where she published and edited authors such as Kerri
K. Greenidge, Yasmine Seale, Cho Nam-joo, and others. At Random House, Marie edits
writers such as Daphne Palasi Andreades, Karen Cheung, Joy Buolamwini, Judd Apatow,
Osita Nwanevu, and Cristina Rivera Garza. She is a mentor with the Representation Matters
Mentorship Program and lives in New York.
» Submission guidelines: Not accepting unsolicited submissions at this time.
» Next book to watch for: Welcome Me To The Kingdom by Mai Nardone (February 2023)
» One book/author you want more people to read: Tastes Like War by Grace M. Cho
20 Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22Marytza K. Rubio
she/her/hers | marytzakrubio.com | @marytza_k
Marytza K. Rubio is a writer from Santa Ana, California. Maria, Maria & Other Stories
(Liveright/W.W. Norton) is her debut collection of short stories featuring mystics, misfits,
and magical beasts.
» One book/author you want more people to read: Tears of the Trufflepig by Fernando A. Flores
Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
she/her/hers | meccajamilahsullivan.com | Mecca Jamilah Sullivan - Author | @mecca_jamilah
@meccajamilah
Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Ph.D. is the author of the novel Big Girl (W.W. Norton & Co.
2022), a 2022 most anticipated pick from Vulture, Ms, Goodreads and SheReads.com. Her
previous books include The Poetics of Difference: Queer Feminist Forms in the African Diaspora
(University of Illinois Press, 2021), and the short story collection, Blue Talk and Love (2015),
winner of the Judith Markowitz Award for Fiction from Lambda Literary. She is Associate
Professor of English at Georgetown University. Originally from Harlem, New York, she
currently lives in Washington, DC.
» One book/author you want more people to read: Ivelisse Rodriguez, Love War Stories
Morgan Talty
he/him/his | morgantalty.com | @Morgan_J_Talty @morganjtalty
Morgan Talty is a citizen of the Penobscot Indian Nation where he grew up. He is the
author of the story collection Night of the Living Rez, and his work has appeared in Granta,
The Georgia Review, TriQuarterly, Narrative Magazine, and elsewhere. A winner of the 2021
Narrative Prize, Talty’s work has been supported by the Elizabeth George Foundation and
National Endowment for the Arts (2022). Talty is on the faculty at the Stonecoast MFA in
creative writing as well as the Institute of American Indian Arts. He lives in Levant, Maine.
» One book/author you want more people to read: The Lesser Blessed by Richard Van Camp
Tanaïs
they/them/theirs | studiotanais.com | @studiotanais
TANAÏS is the author of In Sensorium, and the critically acclaimed novel Bright Lines, which
was a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the Edmund White Debut Fiction
Award, and the Brooklyn Eagles Literary Prize. They are the recipient of residencies at
MacDowell, Tin House, and Djerassi. An independent perfumer, their fragrance, beauty and
design studio TANAÏS is based in New York City. Follow them on Instagram at @studiotanais.
» One book/author you want more people to read: All This Could Be Different by Sarah
Thankam Matthews
Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22 21Christine Kandic Torres
she/her/hers | christinekandictorres.com | @christinekandictorres / @christinekandic
Christine Kandic Torres was born and raised in New York City. Her fiction has received
support from Hedgebrook, VONA, the Jerome Foundation, and the Queens Council on the
Arts, and been featured in publications such as Catapult, Kweli, and Fractured Lit. The Girls in
Queens is her first novel.
» One book/author you want more people to read: Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion by
Bushra Rehman
LaToya Watkins
she/her/hers | www.latoyawatkins.com | @drlwatkins
LaToya’s writing has appeared in A Public Space, The Sun magazine, McSweeney’s, Kweli,
Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. She has received grants, scholarships, and fellowships
from MacDowell, Yaddo, Hedgebrook, and other organizations. She holds a PhD from the
University of Texas at Dallas.
» Next book to watch for: Perish, August 23, 2022
» One book/author you want more people to read: Butter Honey Pig Bread by
Francesca Ekwuyasi
David Heska Wanbli Weiden
he/him/his | davidweiden.com | @WanbliWeiden / wanbliweiden
David Heska Wanbli Weiden, an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, is the author
of the national bestseller Winter Counts (Ecco, 2020), nominated for the Edgar Award, and
winner of the Anthony, Thriller, Lefty, Barry, Macavity, Spur, High Plains, Electa Quinney,
CrimeFest (UK), and Tillie Olsen Awards. The novel was a New York Times Editors’ Choice,
Indie Next pick, main selection of the Book of the Month Club, and named a Best Book of
2020 by NPR, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, The Guardian, and other magazines. He has
short stories appearing or forthcoming in Best American Mystery and Suspense Stories 2022,
Denver Noir, Midnight Hour, This Time for Sure, and The Perfect Crime.
» Next book to watch for: Wisdom Corner (forthcoming 2023)
» One book/author you want more people to read: The Removed by Brandon Hobson
22 Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest2224 Tweet what you love and learn! Tag @kwelijournal on Twitter #KweliLitFest22
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