Jesmyn Ward is a two-time National Book Award-winning author known for her powerful novels exploring race, family, and resilience in the American South. Hailed as “the new Toni Morrison,” her acclaimed works include Salvage the Bones and Sing, Unburied, Sing. Don’t miss the chance to hear from one of today’s most influential voices in contemporary literature at the 2026 Sigma Tau Delta Convention.

Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Guggenheim Fellow and award-winning poet, is the author of Bite By Bite and the New York Times bestseller World of Wonders. She has published five poetry collections, including Night Owl and Oceanic, and co-authored Lace & Pyrite with Ross Gay. Her honors include a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, Pushcart Prize, and NAAEE’s 2024 Innovation Award. She is poetry editor for Sierra and professor at the University of Mississippi.

Fatima Shaik, New Orleans–born author of seven Louisiana-based books, is acclaimed for Economy Hall: The Hidden History of a Free Black Brotherhood. Her work spans fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature, and has appeared in major journals and anthologies. A recipient of the American Book Award and LEH Book of the Year 2022, she founded Saint Peter’s University’s Communication Department and serves as a PEN America trustee and Writers Room NYC member.

Holly MacKenna, M.D., is a dual board-certified psychiatrist and integrative medicine physician with over 20 years of experience. She founded Dara Wellness, a membership-based integrative psychiatry practice in New Orleans serving patients nationwide. Known for her work with trauma, TBI, and veterans, she developed the THRIVE Whole Health Program. An international speaker and media contributor, she co-authored Inhale, Exhale…Shoot!, a children’s book teaching emotional regulation through basketball.

Janine Utell, award-winning writer, editor, and professor emerita of English and Creative Writing at Widener University, is the author of four books and editor of major scholarly volumes on modernism, life writing, and comics. She has led professional organizations, edited key journals in her field, and currently works for the Modern Language Association. At the convention, Utell will speak on career opportunities for English graduates and provide one-to-one mentoring sessions to support students’ professional development.

Kim Vaz-Deville, Chief of Staff at Dillard University, is the author of The ‘Baby Dolls’: Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition and editor of Walking Raddy: The Baby Dolls of New Orleans. She collaborates with the Golden Feather Hunter Warrior Nation on Black masking suits and served as associate curator for “The Black Indians of New Orleans” exhibition in Paris (2022–23). Her work highlights New Orleans’ cultural traditions and their global recognition.

L. D. Lewis, Shirley Jackson Award–nominated writer, editor, and publisher, is the author of A Ruin of Shadows, The Dead Withheld duology, and the forthcoming novel Year of the Mer. Her work appears in anthologies including Jordan Peele’s Out There Screaming. A literary nonprofit administrator and co-creator of the award-winning FIYAH Literary Magazine, she was also a researcher for the LeVar Burton Reads podcast.

Madi Hannan is a New Orleans, Louisiana native, educator, and artist whose work celebrates the culture, wildlife, and spirit of the Bayou State. By day, she teaches biology AP, animal science and anatomy at Mount Carmel Academy, where she inspires students through hands-on science experiences and a love for learning. By night, she transforms her passions into whimsical illustrations and heartwarming children’s stories under her brand Art by Madicat.

Marguerite Sheffer, a New Orleans–based writer, is the author of The Man in the Banana Trees, winner of the Iowa Short Fiction Award and finalist for the 2025 PEN America Robert W. Bingham Prize. Her fiction appears in leading journals including Asimov’s Science Fiction and BOMB. She teaches at Tulane University and co-founded the writing collectives Third Lantern Lit and Wildcat Writing Group.

Maurice Carlos Ruffin is the author of National Bestseller, The American Daughters, as well as The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You, a One Book One New Orleans selection, which was longlisted for the Story Prize. His debut, We Cast a Shadow, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the PEN America Open Book Prize. All three books were New York Times Editor’s Choice selections. Ruffin is the winner of the Iowa Review Award in fiction and the Louisiana Writer Award. Ruffin is an associate professor of Creative Writing at Louisiana State University