Samantha Thornhill

Trinidadian-born Samantha Thornhill started writing poetry at age eleven and edited her high school literary magazine. She attended Florida State University, where she earned her B.A. in Creative Writing, then later graduated from the University of Virginia with her Masters of Fine Arts in Poetry. Aside from coaching the Virginia Slam team for two years, Samantha was and still is an eternal member of Black on Black Rhyme and Cave Canem, two organizations keen on promoting poetry in general, Black poetry in particular. For several years, Samantha served as a program director at the Children's Aid Society in East Harlem, where she built and nurtured youth development programs. Samantha currently teaches poetry to first year acting students in the Drama division at the Juilliard School. She is the author of the young adult novel, Seventeen Seasons, which is forthcoming from Penguin Books. She lives in Brooklyn.