KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Children's Author & Illustrator Known for "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"

NYT Bestselling Author Known for "Heft," "The Unseen World," "Long Bright River" & "The God of the Woods"; Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Temple University

Legendary Children's Horror Author & Storyteller; Creator of "Goosebumps" & "Fear Street"; Guinness World Record Best-Selling Author

Newbery Medal-Winning Author of "Number the Stars" & "The Giver"

Spiritual Life Coach, Bestselling Author & Award-Winning Host of "Iyanla Fix My Life"

Scholar & Activist; Distinguished Professor Emerita at UC Santa Cruz; Author of "Are Prisons Obsolete?"; Founding Member of Critical Resistance

Poet, Educator & Children's Literature Innovator; No. 1 New York Times Bestselling Author; Newbery Medal & Emmy Award Winner

Bestselling Author Known for the Critically Acclaimed Novel "The Hate U Give"

Acclaimed Contemporary Fiction Author & Literary Innovator; Pulitzer Prize Winner; Professor & Founding Director, Rutgers-Newark MFA

Humanitarian, Children's Rights Advocate, Journalist & Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author of "Enrique’s Journey"

Pulitzer Prize & National Book Award-Winning Author Known for "The Color Purple"; Social Justice Activist

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet & Former Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress; Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Virginia

Academy Award-Winning Costume Designer Known for "Black Panther" & "Sinners"

Bestselling Author, Finance Expert, Founder & CEO of Clever Girl Finance

Immersive Futurist, AI Thought Leader & Storyteller; Award-Winning XR Creator

Feminist, Social Critic & Program Chair at The New Institute; Author of "Can Feminism Be African?" & "Sensuous Knowledge"; Founder of Award-Winning Blog MsAfropolitan

Award-Winning Author, Writer & Lawyer; Known for "My Sister, the Serial Killer"; Freelance Writer & Editor

Author of "Heads of the Colored People"; Richards Family Asisstant Professor at Cornell University

Bestselling & Newberry Honor Author; Known for "Echo," "Esperanza Rising" & "Becoming Naomi León"

Award-Winning Entrepreneur; "Shark Tank" Investor; Founder & CEO of FUBU; Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship