Viet Thanh Nguyen was born in Vietnam in 1974. He, along with his family, fled to the United States in 1975 after the fall of Saigon. They stayed in Pennsylvania for three years before moving to San Jose, California. They opened one of the first Vietnamese grocery stores in the area. Growing up...

Angie Thomas, a native and resident of Jackson, Mississippi, is a former teen rapper and current YA author, best known for her novel The Hate U Give. Photo Credit: imgix.bustle.com Early in life, Thomas was exposed to activism as well as social issues in her hometown. She was only six when sh...

Author Toni Morrison is not just a multi-awarded novelist but also an accomplished professor, influential artist, and cultural icon. Photo Credit: www.betterlivingthroughbeowulf.com Born Chloe Anthony Wofford, Morrison exhibited interest in literature early in life. She grew up in a working-c...