Kyla Marshell’s work has appeared in Blackbird, Calyx, ESPNw, Gawker, The Guardian, O, the Oprah Magazine, and SPOOK. Her work has earned her Cave Canem and Jacob K. Javits fellowships, two residencies to the Vermont Studio Center, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. In 2013, Ebony.com named her one of “7 Young Black Writers You Should Know.” A Spelman College graduate originally from Boston, she grew up in Silver Spring, MD, Morehead, KY, and Portland, ME, and now lives in New York.
Kyla Marshell
Articles by Kyla Marshell
The PEN Ten with Khadijah Queen
I wanted to say that my identity determines my opportunities to make a living, how much or little time I get to spend writing, and what I write about. But, that’s all rubbish… writers would do better focusing on doing the work rather than “the writer’s identity.” That feels like a privilege.
The PEN Ten with Marcus Wicker
There will always be a special place in my heart for those of us who find ways to express our beliefs and life obsessions absent of politics and megaphones…
The PEN Ten with Natalie Graham
I find myself thinking the responsibility is to reveal a thing the most beautiful way. Beauty is a trap, but I can’t think of what else the writer is after.
