Speakers

Ashley Bella is a Visual Media Maven, Artistic Entrepreneur and Community Figure dedicated to making Fine & Commercial Art accessible, affordable and applicable as a tool for bettering mental and emotional health.

Dr. Kim McMillon is a producer, playwright and upcoming Willow Books author (Voyages). McMillon is a contributor to the anthology Some Other Blues: New Perspectives on Amiri Baraka (Ohio University Press, 2021).

Author Glenn Parris writes cross-genre books in medical mystery, science fiction, fantasy and historical fiction.

Ms. Addison is the first African-American recipient of the world renowned HWA Bram Stoker Award® and has received five awards for collections: The Place of Broken Things written with Alessandro Manzetti; Four Elements written with Charlee Jacob, Marge Simon and Rain Graves; How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend short stories and poetry; Being Full of Light, Insubstantial; Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes. In 2018, she received the HWA Lifetime Achievement Award.

Author of the Amazon Bestselling urban fantasy series including The Black Parade, The Deadly Seven, She Who Fights Monsters, and The Holy Dark.

Jesse J. Holland is an award-winning writer and journalist. He is the editor of Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda and the author of The Black Panther: Who Is The Black Panther? prose novel, which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in 2019.

Afua Richardson [ Pronounced Uh-FOO-wah ] is an illustrator best known for her work on the Eisner-winning series Black Panther World of Wakanda. Other works include Xmen 92, All-Star Batman, and HBO's Lovecraft Country directed by Misha Green and Produced by JJ Abrams and Jordan Peele.

From digital technology to traditional pen and paper interviews and copywriting, Kat is a gifted storyteller and advocate for inclusion in e-ports and gaming communities.