Aaliyah Bilal

Bilal grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. to a middle class Sunni Muslim family. She attended Oberlin College where she earned degrees in African American studies and Spanish, and the University of London where she earned a master's degree. Bilal has cited Toni Morrison, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Edward P. Jones as literary influences. Her previous writing has also appeared in the ''Chicago Quarterly Review'' and The Rumpus. Provided by Wikipedia