Elizabeth de Souza is a writer and educator whose work explores the mystifying link between artistic genius, culture, and psychology. She is the 2020 Rona Jaffe Foundation - Hedgebrook Fellow, and the 2020 Barbara Smith Writer-in-Residence at Twelve Literary Arts. Elizabeth holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from George Mason University, and her award-winning essays have appeared in Southern Indiana Review, Callaloo, and Solstice Literary Magazine.
At MacDowell, she molded ten years of research into the proposal for her first book, Sleeping in the Fire: The Black Artist in America. The overarching project includes a book, a traveling exhibition, and a short documentary film. In 2018-19, Sleeping in the Fire was a Finalist for the Creative Capital Award, The Oxford American Jeff Baskin Writers Fellowship, and the Mary C. Mohr Nonfiction Award.
