Cole Lavalais writes fiction. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Obsidian, Apogee, Warpland, Tidal Basin Review, Aquarius Press, and others. She has been awarded writer residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and The Noepe Center for the Literary Arts. She is a fellow of the Kimbilio Center for Black Fiction, VONA, and the Callaloo Writing workshops.
She holds an M.F.A. from Chicago State University and a Ph. D. from University of Illinois at Chicago. She has taught writing for over ten years and currently teaches community-based writing workshops on the south side of Chicago. She also hosts Colored People’s Time, a bimonthly literary salon featuring fiction writers of color.
