The Black Lesbian Literary Collective

A fiction reading from LaToya Hankins, Renee Cronin and S. Andrea Allen. This event is part of OutWrite, a 3-day festival and celebration of LGBT literature, authors, writers, and poets.

La Toya Hankins is the author of SBF Seeking, and K-Rho: The Sweet Taste of Sisterhood. The North Carolina  native  is an East Carolina University graduate who earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism with a minor in political science. She is a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and currently serves as president of the organization’s Chapel Hill, NC graduate chapter. Hankins currently works for the State of North Carolina in a division of the state’s Health and Human Services department.  Prior to her current employment, she worked seven and half years in the field of journalism.

Renee Cronin is a self-professed devourer of knowledge, and a voracious reader. She began writing in earnest in 2005, when the characters in her head became so loud she was forced to tell their stories, or risk getting swept away into the abyss of her imagination. Renee has since used writing as a personal outlet to express her feelings, ideas, views, thoughts, and opinions about the world and the issues that impact her on a deep personal and societal level. (And of course writing also quiets the voices in her head of the many characters that are yearning to have their stories told.) Renee’s inspiration to publish is in large part due to the overwhelming display of encouragement, and support from family and friends, who believe she has a gift with words that need to be shared with world. Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, she works in the social work field avidly advocating and supporting the varied needs of the people in her community. Renee is a bibliophile with a transcendent love for words. Her soul yearns for the acoustic stylings from a plethora of musical genres. As she continues on this journey of published author she hopes to keep her readers captivated and pining for more.

Stephanie Andrea Allen, Ph.D., is a native southerner and out Black lesbian writer, scholar, and educator. She is the author of A Failure to Communicate (BLF Press, 2017), a collection of short fiction and essays, and co-edited Lez Talk: A Collection of Black Lesbian Short Fiction (BLF Press, 2016), and Solace: Writing, Refuge, and LGBTQ Women of Color (BLF Press, 2017). She also blogs at sistaoutsider.com. She is Founder and Publisher at BLF Press, an author-centered, independent, Black feminist press dedicated to amplifying the work of women of color;  and recently co-founded the Black Lesbian Literary Collective “as a collaborative effort among women with shared cultural experiences who desire a nurturing and productive writing setting.” She is also co-founder and co-editor of Serendipity Literary Magazine. Stephanie holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from Purdue University, an M.A. in English from Auburn University, and a B.A. in English from Columbus State University. Her scholarship examines the marginalization of Black lesbian cultural productions and the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality that contribute to the invisibility of Black lesbians in popular and literary culture.