Rio Cortez is a New York Times bestselling author for her picture book The ABCs of Black History and The River Is My Sea. this August, Golden Ax, her debut poetry collection, is going to be from Penguin Poets.Cortezz was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah however she now lives, writes, and works in Harlem. She works in sales and marketing at Harper Collins, where her goal is to amplify the voices and opportunities for BIPOC writers in the day.She also works at the Schomburg Cneter for Research in Black Culture. She attended Sarah Lawurence for her undergrad and then NYU where she reiveed her MFA in poetry. She's been living with her fammily in her husband's hometown of Harlem, New York.