The daughter of a Black American father and Puerto Rican mother, Dr. McCauley’s creative and scholarly work centers on self-determination, Afro-Latinidad, cultural clashes and belonging. She enjoys reading, taking lakeside walks, dancing, watching 90s anime and stargazing. She is the author of the hybrid collection SCAR ON/SCAR OFF, the short story collection WHEN TRYING TO RETURN HOME, the poetry collection KINDS OF GRACE and the forthcoming collection NEON STEEL (2.26). She lives and writes in Kansas City, MO.

Short Bio for media purposes:

Jennifer Maritza McCauley is the author of SCAR ON/SCAR OFF, When Trying to Return Home and Kinds of Grace. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Kimbilio and CantoMundo and her work has been a New York Times Editors’ Choice, Best Fiction Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews and a Must-Read by Elle, Latinx in Publishing, Ms. Magazineand Southern Review of Books. She is fiction editor at Pleiades and an assistant professor of English at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.