Aracelis Girmay is the mother of two amazing young people and the proud auntie of a small few others. She is also the author of the poetry collections "the black maria," "Kingdom Animalia," and "Teeth," as well as a book of collages entitled changing, changing. For the past 20 years, she has taught reading and writing workshops in a variety of settings, including cultural centers, after-school programs, elementary and high schools, and colleges. For several years she taught in Hampshire College’s School for Interdisciplinary Arts and is now the Assistant Chair of the Writing Program at Pratt. For her work, she has received the Whiting Award, the Isabella Gardner Award, and the GLCA New Writers Award. Her books have also been named finalists for the Connecticut Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Hurston/Wright Award, and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature. Most recently, Girmay’s poetry and essays have been published in The Paris Review, Granta, Black Renaissance Noire, and PEN America, among other places. Girmay recently edited "How to Carry Water: Selected Poems of Lucille Clifton" and is currently editing an anthology by writers of color on experiences of/in relation to pregnancy. She is on the editorial board of the African Poetry Book Fund.