Tavares Stephens weaves the art of storytelling into his work by relating his poetry to stories and experiences that have shaped him as an artist, classroom teacher and servant.

He wrote “Soulfood Café,” a book of poetry, and “Reading Revolution,” a book of biographies covering important contributions from the African Diaspora. His poetry spans life situations, political and social issues, as well as human emotions. Stephens has worked as a freelance columnist for Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Currently, he serves as a freelance curriculum writer and trainer for The Learning Together Company, which helps raise student achievement in reading and math.

Author, playwright, poet and performer Alice Lovelace is the co-founder of the Southern Collective of African American Writers (SCAWW), editor of “CRUX: A Conversation in Words and Images from South Africa to South USA.” Her work has been published both nationally and internationally. For nine years, she has written and performed the storyline for the annual recital of 200 young dancers from Moving in the Spirit in Atlanta. She also wrote and performed two full length dance productions with Gash Voight Dance Theatre.

Tania Rochelle, teacher and author, has taught creative writing for 13 years at Portfolio Center in Atlanta. She has published two books of poetry, "Karaoke Funeral" and "The World’s Last Bone," both from Snake Nation Press. Rochelle is currently completing her Master’s in Clinical Counseling and hopes to combine her writing and counseling skills to help people recover from trauma and addiction. She received her MFA from The Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.