Michaela angela Davis is a writer, creative director, producer, and image activist focusing on the intersections of gender, race, fashion, culture, beauty, and identity. She was the co-writer of Mariah Carey’s memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, which was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller. She was the fashion, beauty, and culture editor at Essence magazine, the founding fashion director at VIBE magazine, and the creator of NAACP Award-nominated docuseries The Hair Tales, which she co-executive produced alongside Oprah Winfrey and Tracee Ellis Ross.

‘Tenderheaded’ is a memoir about Black identity in the world of glamour

Adrian Matejka is the author of six poetry collections and the graphic novel Last on His Feet. He has been nominated for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, served as the poet laureate of Indiana from 2018 to 2019, and is editor-in-chief of Poetry magazine. He lives in Chicago, and his latest collection of poetry, Be Easy: New & Selected Poems, will be released by Liveright in 2026.

Be Easy, Adrian Matejka - Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

Reyna Grande is the author of several books, including The Distance Between Us, A Dream Called Home, and Migrant Heart: Essays About Things I Can’t Forget, forthcoming in May in English and Spanish. Born in Guerrero, Mexico, Grande spent years waiting to be reunited with her parents before making the dangerous journey to the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant at just nine years old. Those early years of separation and migration became the heartbeat of everything she writes.

Breaking Down Barriers and Taking Up Space With Immigration Narratives - Reyna Grande | Member Spotlight, PEN AMERICA

Lawrence Burney is a writer, editor, critic, and the founder of True Laurels, an independent magazine covering Baltimore’s music and culture scene. His work has appeared in publications such as New York Magazine, GQ, Washington Post and Pitchfork. He has also worked as an editor at The Fader, a staff writer at VICE, and an editor/reporter at The Baltimore Banner. His first book, No Sense in Wishing, a collection of essays, was published in July 2025 via Atria Books.

Maryland Humanities is pleased to announce that the selection for the 2026 One Maryland One Book (OMOB) is No Sense in Wishing by Lawrence Burney.