Tonya C. Hegamin, MFA (she/her), is a queer and (dis)abled award-winning author/artist/academic of Black and Native American (Lenape/Nanticoke) descent. Her honors include awards from the New York Public Library, The Christopher Foundation and more. Her books, Most Loved In All the World, M+O 4EVR, Pemba's Song and Willow have received honorable mentions and starred reviews in Publisher's Weekly and have been featured in USA Today, The Washington Post, Ebony and Essence. Hegamin is a tenured Associate Professor in the English and World Languages Department at the City University of New York's Medgar Evers College. She also serves as an Affiliate Faculty at CUNY's School of Medicine in their Narrative Medicine program. She holds certificates in Diversity and Inclusion Education, as well as in Wellness Counseling from Cornell University. Professor Hegamin has published scholarly articles about creativity, praxis and pedagogy in The Journal of Creative Writing Studies, Can Creative Writing Really be Taught? and Creative Writing Innovations. Hegamin's research interests focus on the intersections of narrative, creativity, cultural history, disability, gender/queer studies, race and healthcare. Hegamin has been a patient and victim advocate since 1998, working as an educator and counselor for organizations like Women Against Rape, Planned Parenthood, Police Athletic League, JPMorgan and Johnson& Johnson/Janssen Pharmaceutical. www.tonyacheriehegamin.com
