James V. Dwalu is a children’s book author from Grand Cape Mount County, and a member of the Liberia Association of Writers. His long list of titles include Blama’s Dream, Varney and the Monkey Bridge, and Hunting at Night. Many of his stories have been selected for children’s literacy and teacher training programs in Liberia.

Patrick Karangwa is the founder and CEO of Global Humanitarian and Development Foundation (GHDF) – an NGO dedicated to serving tens of thousands of refugees and other vulnerable communities in Rwanda and beyond. 

M. Woryonwon Roberts has been a street peddler, shopkeeper, high school athlete, student leader, sports director and classroom teacher. He is a practitioner and facilitator of Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking (RWCT), and has run RWCT trainings for educators across Liberia and in Zambia, Malawi and Sierra Leone.

Gii-Hne Russell was born in the town of Bong Mines, in Bong County. He is the author of three children’s books, and has poems and a short story published in A Day Under the Palaver Hut—an anthology by Critical Thinking Liberia (CT-L). He studied Library Science and is a member of the Liberian Association of Writers.  

Born in 1937 in Haindi, Bong County, Wilton Sankawulo was Liberia’s most prominent writer and folklorist, and a leading expert on traditional culture. He earned his MFA in English at the University of Iowa, and was a Professor of English and Literature at the University of Liberia. He won the LEA Award for Best Author, posthumously, in 2011, for Birds Are Singing.

Elma Shaw has won awards for Redemption Road from LEA (Best Author, 2010) and from Writer’s Digest. She has written for LIBERIA Travel & Life Magazine, and was lead writer for Big Belly Business – the Liberian woman’s guide to a healthy pregnancy. Shaw was nominated for the African Sheroes Award for Outstanding Writer/Novelist in 2015, and is the editor and publisher at Cotton Tree Press.

Vamba Sherif was born in Liberia and spent parts of his youth in Kuwait where he completed secondary school. He fled the First Gulf War and settled in Syria, and then in The Netherlands where he studied Law. His acclaimed novels include Land of My Fathers, Bound to Secrecy and The Black Napoleon. Sherif reviews music and films, and collects rare books on Africa.

Dr. Mardia Stone is an obstetrician, gynecologist, and international public health specialist with a keen interest in post-conflict health systems rehabilitation. She has researched, written, and spoken on issues related to women’s health and HIV/AIDS in Africa, and is an advocate for those infected and their families.

Augustus Y. Voahn was born in Zuolay, Liberia. He has a B.Sc. in Social Work from the Mother Patern College of Health Sciences, and has worked in many rural communities in Liberia. Voahn has published three books for children—Under the Bridge, Swimming at Ten, and Uncle Jallah Will Fix It.