Hi, I’m Maya-Gawonii! I’m an author, critical essayist, and community educator, and the heart behind Cowrie Crossings, my Black and Egyptian, queer-run, mom-owned imprint built on care and courage.

I write from the intersections of grief and liberation, memory and magic, rage and reverence. My queer horror-themed romcom, My Roommate Is Trying To Kill Me, released October 2026 with advance praise from New York Times bestselling author Aiden Thomas. I was named first runner-up for the Red Hen Press 2025 Quill Prose Award for HER BITE, my unreleased, Black Southern gothic sapphic vampire novella. My essays appear in Dead Pretty: Beauty in the Horror Genre and Echoes of the Earth: Black Voices Reclaiming Ecology and Justice (Cassava Republic Press, forthcoming), among more than fifteen literary journal publications.

I’ve been organizing in political and grassroots movements since 2008 and working as a community educator since 2019. Today I bring that work into writing workshops for schools, universities, libraries, and community groups across the Bay Area, creating spaces where the possible takes shape.

When I’m not writing or teaching, you’ll find me on stage doing stand-up, curled up with a good book (recommendations always welcome!), or at Cape and Cowl in Oakland with my kid. I believe laughter, healing, and resistance go hand in hand, and that a liberated future is already on its way.

Feedback for Maya-Gawonii from past workshop participants:

“Maya-Gawonii is a wonderfully kind, helpful, patient and supportive person. I would highly recommend working with her in any of her mediums. Maya-Gawonii showed so much compassion for everyone in our call and made such a wonderful space for growth.”

Social Media: @mayagawoniiwrites on Instagram and Threads