Born July 22, 1939, in St. Louis, Missouri, Quincy Troupe is an awarding-winning author of 12 volumes of poetry, three children’s books, and six nonfiction works. In 2010 Troupe received the American Book Award for Lifetime Achievement. Among Troupe’s best-selling works are Miles: The Autobiography of Miles Davis and his memoir, Miles & Me, soon to become a major motion picture. Other notable works are: The Pursuit of Happyness, an autobiography written with Chris Gardner that was a New York Times bestseller for over 40 weeks and a major motion picture starring Will Smith; The Architecture of Language, which won the 2007 Paterson Award for Sustained Literary Achievement; and Transcircularities: New and Selected Poems, selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the ten best books of poetry in 2002 and winner of the 2003 Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award. Quincy Troupe is professor emeritus of the University of California, San Diego, and poetry editor of A Gathering of the Tribes online magazine.

(Photo credit: Chester Higgins)