Samiya Bashir

Samiya Bashir’s most recent book of poems, Gospel, was a finalist for both the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and along with her first collection, Where the Apple Falls, the Lambda Literary Award. Previously an editor with Ms. Magazine and Black Issues Book Review, she co-edited Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social & Political Black Literature & Art. Samiya holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, where she served as Poet Laureate, and an MFA from the University of Michigan, where she received two Hopwood Poetry Awards. She is also the recipient of the Aquarius Press Legacy Award, the Astraea Writers Award, and fellowships from Cave Canem, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, among others. An Ann Arbor, Michigan, native, Samiya has a magic cat who shares her love of trees.