Clinnesha D. Sibley is a literary artist, educator, and community leader with degrees from Tougaloo College (B.A.) and the University of Arkansas (M.F.A.). A writer of plays, poetry, essays, and prose/fiction, Clinnesha has received numerous awards including the Holland New Voices Award, the Arkansas Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship, and the Mississippi Theatre Association Playwriting Award. Her writing has also appeared in national literary journals, as well as various publications and anthologies. Clinnesha was selected as one of twenty-four change-makers across the United States for the 2017-2018 National Arts Strategies Creative Communities Fellow Program. This program was her springboard into the non-profit sector and social entrepreneurship. A 2019 recipient of a “Rise Grant” from Women on the Rise Network and a 2020 recipient of the Arts Institute of Mississippi (AIM) Award, Clinnesha is the literary arts instructor at Mississippi School of the Arts.