D. Watkins is Editor at Large for Salon. His work has been published in the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, and other publications. He holds a Master’s in Education from Johns Hopkins University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Baltimore.

Watkins is a college lecturer at the University of Baltimore and an Arts and Social Justice Visiting Professor at Johns Hopkins University. He's the recipient of numerous awards including, BMe Genius Grant, and the Maryland Library Association William Wilson Maryland Author Award. Watkins was a finalist for the Hurston Wright Legacy Award and Books for A Better Life. He has lectured at countless universities, and events around the world, and has been featured on NBC’s Meet the Press, CNN’s The Erin Burnett Show, Democracy Now and NPR’s Morning Edition, among other shows.

Watkins is from and lives in Baltimore. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Beast Side: Living (and Dying) While Black in America, The Cook Up: A Crack Rock Memoir, and We Speak for Ourselves: A Word from Forgotten Black America, the 2020 One Book Baltimore selection which provides opportunities for Baltimore City 7th and 8th graders, their families, and community members to connect through literature. His forthcoming memoir Where Tomorrows Aren’t Promised, co-written with Carmelo Anthony, will be released this fall.

Chic Dambach's highly successful international career includes serving as President of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, President of the National Peace Corps Association, and leading Operation Respect with Peter Yarrow. A tenacious advocate and mediator, he was nominated for the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, and recently declared a Knight of the National Order of Mali.

Many thanks to our generous supporters who make this event possible:

Maryland State Arts Council | Maryland Humanities | Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts | Creative Baltimore Fund | Robert W. Deutsch Foundation | William G. Baker Memorial Fund | T. Rowe Price Foundation | Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation | Motor House | Insight 180