Cole Lavalais' short stories can be found in Obsidian, Apogee, Warpland, Tidal Basin Review, Aquarius Press, and others. She is a fellow of the Kimbilio Center for Black Fiction, VONA and the Callaloo Writing Workshops. She's been awarded writing residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and The Noepe Center for the Literary Arts. She holds an M.F.A. from Chicago State University, and a Ph.D. in Creative Writing from University of Illinois at Chicago.
As a born and raised Chicagoan, she believes in encouraging, fostering, and championing writing by writers of color across genres. Cole has taught writing for over ten years and currently teaches community-based writing workshops on the south side of Chicago.
Summer of the Cicadas is her debut novel.