Danian Darrell Jerry holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and currently pursues a Ph.D. in Africology and African American Studies at Temple University. He is a VONA (Voices of Our Nation) Fellow, a Fiction Editor of Obsidian, and a 2023 Volcanista of Under the Volcano Writer's Workshop. At Temple University he serves as the Associate Editor of Imhotep Graduate Student Journal. Danian founded Neighborhood Heroes, a youth arts program that employs comic books and literary arts to educate emerging readers. Onstage, he has performed with Hip Hop legends KRS-One, DJ Kool Herc, and as a featured guest at the 2019 Mercedes-Benz SXSW MeConvention in Frankfurt, Germany. His work is referenced in This Ain't Chicago: Race, Class, & Regional Identity in the Post-Soul South, Hip Hop In America: A Regional Guide, The Commercial Appeal, The Memphis Flyer, and Southern Soul Magazine. A 2025 recipient of the Anna Julia Cooper & CLR James Award for Outstanding Scholarly Publication in Africana Studies, Danian has presentented research papers at numerous conferences including Future Waves: Afrofuturism 2.0 and the World and the Molefi Kete Asante Institute’s Global Afrocentricity Conference. His writing and editorial work appears in Illmatic Consequences: The Clapback to Opponents of ‘Critical Race Theory,’ Cracking the Wire During Black Lives Matter, Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda, Fireside Fiction, Curating the End of the World: Red Spring, Trouble the Waters: Tales from the Deep Blue, Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction, The Magazine of Fantasy and Fiction, Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson, The Map of Lost Places: Stories from Strange and Haunted Realms, Fiyah Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, Tar Baby Magazine, Imhotep Graduate Student Journal, and Africology and the African Diaspora: Agency Culture and Change. As Danian works diligently to complete his dissertation research, he serves in the Student Success Center as a Graduate Student Writing Tutor.

Faculty Advisor: Reynaldo Anderson