Dior J. Stephens is a Black, Queer poet, editor, and educator whose work bridges the intersections of poetics, spirituality, and the avant-garde. A Cave Canem, Lambda Literary, and Sewanee Fellow, Dior's debut poetry collection, CRUEL/CRUEL (Nightboat Books, 2023), was nominated for the 2024 Ohioana Book Award. Their second collection is forthcoming from Nightboat Books in Spring 2027. Dior serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Foglifter Journal & Press and as Executive Coordinator of the Helen Weinberger Center for Drama & Playwriting. They are also completing their Ph.D. in Philosophy with a Creative Writing Focus at the University of Cincinnati, where they teach courses in English Composition and Poetry.