Nicole Sealey was born in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, and raised in Apopka, FL. She is the author of Ordinary Beast and The Animal After Whom Other Animals Are Named. She has received the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, among many awards, and her works have been featured in book series and journals, including The New Yorker and The Paris Review. Currently, she is a visiting professor at Boston University and Syracuse University.