Kwame Alexander, a poet, publisher, playwright, producer, speaker, and performer, is the author of eight books -including the best-selling Do The Write Thing: 7 Steps to Publishing Success, Kupenda: Love Poems, Dancing Naked on the Floor: poems and essays, and The Way I Walk, a collection of young adult short stories. He has conducted standing-room only publishing workshops, delivered keynote speeches, and performed his cutting-edge brand of poetry to audiences at numerous conferences, colleges and venues throughout the world, including: Stratford-on-Avon, Brixton Town Hall, Oberlin College, UC Berkeley, Hampton University, Duke University, University of Maryland, America's Choice National Conference, Baltimore Writers Alliance, and the Gwendolyn Brooks Writers Conference. In the fall of 2006, Alexander served as keynote speaker, along with Naomi Shihab, at the New York State Council for Teachers of English Annual Conference. Alexander has produced over two-hundred literary related special events, including the First Annual Capital BookFest, a major literary arts festival sponsored by The Washington Post, Chick-fil-A, and The Literacy Council of Prince George's County. As a literary expert and commentator, he has appeared on a variety of television and radio programs including Fox News, Tavis Smiley, BET's Teen Summit , News Channel 8's Entertainment Forecast , NPR's Kojo Namdi Show , and several NBC and Fox affiliates. He has also been featured in the Washington Post, Poets and Writers Magazine, Publisher's Weekly, Detroit Metro-Times, Washington Times, Sacramento Observer, Baltimore Sun, Vibe Magazine, Source Magazine, and The Virginia Pilot-Ledger Star. The founder of two book publishing companies, BlackWords Press and the Alexander Publishing Group, Alexander is responsible for progressive and original fiction and non-fiction. He has published over forty authors in different genres, including: M. Dion Thompson, former Baltimore Sun reporter and author of the critically-acclaimed historical novel Walk Like A Natural Man; Lalita Noronha, author of the short story collection, Where Monsoons Cry; and Michael Datcher, Today Show Book Club Awardee and editor of Tough Love: The Life and Death of Tupac Shakur . He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and daughter, where he hosts a weekly radio program, Word of Mouth, and serves as poet-in-the-schools for Crossland High School/Prince George's County Schools.

-- Biography compiled from Kwame Alexander's website, www.kwamealexander.com