BIO

DeLauné Michel grew up in a large South Louisiana literary family that includes her first cousin André Dubus III, and second cousin James Lee Burke. She has spent over two decades in the literary world – producing an acclaimed reading series, empowering marginalized voices, and writing fiction and nonfiction. Her career telling stories began with her work as an actor in theatre (including her critically-acclaimed one-woman show), television (including NYPD Blue), and feature films (including Harry Shearer’s directorial debut).

In 1996, Ms. Michel created the critically-acclaimed reading series, Spoken Interludes, where award-winning, bestselling, and debut writers read their work to sold-out audiences. In 2000, Ms. Michel developed, taught in, and continues to run outreach writing programs for at-risk youth in inner-city schools, juvenile institutions, and prison reaching over 450 children a year in New York and Los Angeles since 2000. Through Spoken Interludes, she also runs a book-drive that has put over 6,000 free books into the hands of underprivileged children. For more information, please visit  www.spokeninterludes.com.