Arriel Vinson – Guest Artist

Arriel Vinson is a writer from the Midwest whose work explores the experiences of being young, Black, and seeking personal freedom. Her debut young adult novel-in-verse, Under the Neon Lights, received the 2026 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award, was selected for Reese’s Book Club LitUp, and earned a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection. Vinson holds an MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and has been recognized as a Tin House YA Scholar, a Highlights Foundation scholarship recipient, and a Walter Grant recipient. Her second novel, If This World Were Mine, is scheduled for release in spring 2027. She can be found on social media at @arriwrites, and more of her work is available at arriwrites.com.