Maria James-Thiaw

For 25 years, Maria James-Thiaw has been sharing her poetry with dramatic flare. This seasoned spoken word artist has brought her work to the stage in the form of an award-winning choreopoem, Reclaiming My Time: An American Griot Project, and HairStory: Reclaiming My Crown. Maria's poetry has been published in a wide array of literary journals, and in 4 traditionally published books. She has been a professor of writing for nearly 20 years and a fierce advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. In 2018 she founded Reclaim Artist Collective to bring anti-racist arts programming to marginalized communities and help creatives hone their craft. She lives in Central PA with her husband and two au-some sons.