Derrick Harriell is the Interim Director of the Black Student Cultural Center and Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His previous collections of poems include Stripper in Wonderland, Come Kingdom, Cotton, and Ropes, winner of the 2014 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Poetry Book Award. His short story, “There’s a Riot Goin’ On,” was the recipient of the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award. He holds an MFA from Chicago State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His forthcoming coauthored book with celebrated rapper 2 Chainz, The Voice in My Head is God, will be published in March 2026.