A Black trans woman with disabilities, Taiwana Shambley is a speculative fiction writer, proud barista, & award-winning teaching artist from the North End neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota. A resident of Baltimore, what she likes to call the City of Dolls in respect to its Black trans community, Taiwana works at the intersection of creative writing, community, and coffee to empower queer, trans, disabled, and youth voices through a Black feminist lens. Taiwana is a fiction editor of Chrysalis Magazine for Trans Youth, a 2023 Loft/MISA Excellence in Teaching Fellow, a 2023 Minnesota Colleges & Universities Write Like Us Mentor, and you might’ve seen her face on the cover of Minnesota Women’s Press. Her fiction has been recognized with grants from the Loft Literary Center, the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council.

Her debut collection, Revenge of the Hood Bitches: Angry Black Girl Fiction and Poetry, querying publishers as of summer 2026, wields revenge and anger as literary devices, exploring what they can do on the page for marginalized experiences, their application ringing with relatability and political viability for angry Black (trans) girls, disabled youth, and other marginalized new adult communities in what she hopes is a radicalizing read. Taiwana is a master fiction writer (Master of Fine Arts, Antioch University Los Angeles 2025), a 2021 graduate of Augsburg University in English and African American Studies, where as part of a coalition of students, faculty, and staff she co-led the creation of the school’s first ethnic studies department. She’s worked as the Inaugural Open Road Fund Program Associate for Nexus Community Partners and the Inaugural End Youth Prisons MN Campaign Lead for the Legal Rights Center.