IMANI TOLLIVER

Imani Tolliver (she/her) is an award-winning poet, artist, educator, public speaker, and event producer. An interdisciplinary artist, she is a collagist and watercolorist.

She is a graduate of Howard University, a Cave Canem Fellow and served as Poet Laureate for the Watts Towers Arts Center. She has also been recognized by the City of Los Angeles for her work as a promoter, host, and publicist in support of the literary arts in Southern California.

Rooted in social justice, Imani has curated and produced a wide portfolio of arts and cultural programming that celebrate, reflect, and amplify the voices of diverse communities. These programs have included art festivals, poetry readings, slams, concerts, youth theatre, community theatre, and special events for large municipalities in Southern California.

Photo by Beth Rubin, 2017 

More than a memoir, Tolliver’s stunning poems are an elegy to girlhood, an awakening, a forgiveness, a piercing and provocative ode to what’s remembered, what’s left behind and what moves us forward. 

— Jacqueline Woodson, Recipient of the MacArthur Genius Fellowship, National Book Award, Hans Christian Anderson Award, Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, Newbery Honor Medal, Coretta Scott King Award, and the Caldecott Medal