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Elizabeth Acevedo was born and raised in New York City, the only daughter of Dominican immigrants. Her poetry is infused with Dominican bolero and her beloved city’s tough grit. She is the author of Family Lore, which was longlisted for The Center for Fiction’s 2023 First Novel Prize; Inheritance: A Visual Poem; Clap When You Land; With the Fire On High; the New York Times best selling novel, The Poet X, winner of the 2018 National Book Award for Young Adult Fiction, the 2019 Michael L. Printz Award, the Horn Book Prize for Fiction and Poetry, and the Carnegie Medal. She is also the author of the poetry chapbook Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths, a collection of folkloric poems centered on the historical, mythological, gendered and geographic experiences of a first generation American woman. From the border in the Dominican Republic, to the bustling streets of New York City, Acevedo considers how some bodies must walk through the world as beastly beings. How these forgotten myths are both blessing and birthright. Acevedo’s poems have been published or are forthcoming in Poetry, Puerto Del Sol, Callaloo, Poet Lore, The Notre Dame Review, and others. Acevedo is a Cave Canem Fellow, Cantomundo Fellow, and participant of the Callaloo Writer’s Workshop. She’s given TedTalks and has been a featured reader nationally and internationally, including appearance at renowned venues such as The Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts, South Africa’s State Theatre, The Bozar in Brussels, the National Library of Kosovo and many others. In 2022, The Poetry Foundation selected Elizabeth Acevedo as the Young People’s Poet Laureate.

Ebony LaDelle is the author of Love Radio—which was People magazine’s best book of the summer, a 2023 Audie Award Finalist, a 2023 Michigan Notable Book, Apple Books’ best book of 2022, an Amazon’s Editor Pick and was featured on the Today Show. Prior to being an author, Ebony was a brand marketing director in book publishing and worked at Penguin Random House and HarperCollins, among others. Born in MI, awoken at Howard University, and cultivated in Brooklyn, Ebony can usually be found eating out somewhere or being the undisputed Mom Friend of any group.

Books will be available for sale. A book signing will follow the conversation.

Presented in partnership with East City Bookshop