Iloh (they/them) captures the “nuance of young Black life” in coming-of-age novels and poetry, influenced as much by a lineage of Black queer writers as by the hundreds of high school students the artist has taught. Their work includes novels Every Body Looking (a National Book Award finalist and Printz Award nominee), about a new student at a Historically Black College struggling to break from her past and discover her own agency, and Break This House, about a young woman grappling with her mother’s absence and hometown secrets. Iloh’s newest novel, Salt The Water, centers a queer high school student who drops out to pursue their dreams and the compromises they must make to support their family. Iloh earned an MFA in writing for young people from Lesley University and a BA in public relations from Howard University.
