Literary Conference 2026
Meet the 2026 Presenters
Cristoso Apache
Crisosto Apache is the current 11th Poet Laureate for Colorado (26-27) and is from Mescalero, New Mexico, on the Mescalero Apache reservation. Crisosto is Mescalero Apache, Chiricahua Apache, and Diné (Navajo). Apache’s clanships are the Salt Clan, born for the Towering House Clan. Apache attended the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) and earned an MFA and is an Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing. Crisosto is also an editor-at-large for The Offing Magazine. Apache’s books are GENESIS (Lost Alphabet), Out-of-Print & Ghostword (Gnashing Teeth Publishing), winner of the Publishing Triangle’s 2023 Betty Berzon Emerging Writers Award and a finalist for the 2023 Colorado Authors League Award in poetry, with a new poetry collection is(ness), from Gnashing Teeth Publishing. Apache is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee. Crisosto continues to advocate for the Two-spirit/Indigiqueer community for the past twenty years, working in grassroots non-profit organizations both locally and nationally.
Cristina Aguilar
As a recognized leader, former executive director, emergent facilitator, and policy strategist in intersectional movements, I am committed to guiding you to center with love, joy, and restorative practices. Answering a sacred calling to support those in social justice movements, this journey honors the path of my ancestors by reclaiming my family’s Mexican curanderisma lineage, enriched by my perspective as a queer Latine from the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Together, with radical community care and love, we can live into the collective liberation we breathe and dream about.
Alia Hanna Habib
Alia Hanna Habib is a vice president and literary agent at The Gernert Company, where she represents MacArthur Fellows, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, National Book Award finalists, and numerous New York Times bestselling authors. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.
photo cred: Beowulf Sheehan
photo cred: Beowulf Sheehan
Samuel Kọ́láwọlé
Samuel Kọ́láwọlé was born and raised in Ibadan, Nigeria. His debut novel, The Road to the Salt Sea, won the 2025 Whiting Award for Fiction, was a finalist for the International Book Awards, was longlisted for the 2025 Aspen Words Literary Prize, and is currently a finalist for the 2025 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel.
Other honors for his work include being a finalist for the Caine Prize for African Writing, the Graywolf Press Africa Prize, and the UK's The First Novel Prize.
He studied at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and holds a Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing with distinction from Rhodes University, South Africa; is a graduate of the MFA in Writing and Publishing at Vermont College of Fine Arts; and earned his PhD in English and Creative Writing from Georgia State University.
He teaches fiction writing full-time as an assistant professor of English and African studies at Pennsylvania State University. He recently joined the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers as a faculty member.
Alyssa Reynoso-Morris
Alyssa Reynoso-Morris is a queer Afro-Latine/x and Indigenous (Taino) award-winning storyteller, author, and motivational speaker with Dominican and Puerto Rican roots. She is also a mother and community organizer. During the day, she works with community members, non-profit organizations, and government officials to make the world a better place. Then she puts on her writer’s hat to craft heartfelt stories. Alyssa was born and raised in The Bronx, New York, and currently lives in Philadelphia, PA, with her family. She is the author of Plátanos Are Love & Los plátanos son amor (a NCTE Charlotte Huck Recommended Read); The Bronx Is My Home; Gloriana Presente: A First Day of School Book & Gloriana Presente: De la República Dominicana al Bronx; Bold, Brilliant and Latine: Meet 52 Latine and Hispanic Heroes from Past and Present; and Pieces of Home. She hopes you enjoy her stories. You can learn more about her at alyssaauthor.com
Charlotte Yeung
Charlotte Yeung is a UN Youth Champion for Disarmament, the 2023 Midwest Youth Poet Ambassador, and author of Amazon #1 New Release Isabelle and the Magic Bird. Her first multilingual poem was sent to the Moon via the Lunar Codex. She founded and led a poetry course for women and girls in Afghanistan that was the catalyst for an underground school at Pax Populi. She currently co-teaches an advanced poetry course at the school. She has performed poetry at the US Ambassador's Residence in Dublin and at the United Nations Headquarters. She is on the board of directors for the Kurt Vonnegut Museum. She was previously the 2022 Indianapolis Youth Poet Laureate. She is also a designer with British Ekoalpaka Fashion. She studies Public Policy at Sciences Po Paris and University of Tokyo. In her free time, she reads, writes, and plays Stardew Valley.