M. NourbeSe Philip
M. NourbeSe Philip is a poet, essayist, novelist, and playwright who was born in Tobago, in the twin island state of Trinidad and Tobago, and now lives in Toronto. Her published works include the award-winning YA novel, Harriet's Daughter, the seminal poetry collection, She Tries Her Tongue; Her Silence Softly Breaks, the speculative prose poem, Looking for Livingstone: An Odyssey of Silence, and her genre breaking book-length epic, Zong! Philip is a Guggenheim and Rockefeller Fellow (Bellagio) and in 2020 was the recipient of PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature. In 2021 she was awarded the Arts Molson Prize by the Canada Council for "invaluable contributions to literature."