The Tiffany Austin Fellowship
The Tiffany Austin Fellowship honors the teacher, writer, activist, and Kimbilio Fellow, who passed away in 2018.
Dr. Austin taught at Florida Memorial University, Mississippi Valley State University, and most recently at the University of The Bahamas. She was also a widely published poet, with her chapbook Étude appearing in 2013. Of this volume, her mentor Sterling Plumpp noted, “Austin’s genius is her unusual gift for metaphor and allusion.” Others recognized Tiffany’s genius too, with her poems appearing in such prestigious outlets as Callaloo, Obsidian III, African American Review, Coloring Book: An Anthology of Poetry and Fiction by Multicultural Writers, Warpland, pluck!, The Journal of Affrilachian Arts and Culture, Valley Voices, Auburn Avenue, TriQuarterly, Sycorax’s Daughters, and Moko: Caribbean Arts and Letters.
Before her passing, Dr. Austin organized a panel of Kimbilio Fellows of Caribbean descent for a writing conference at the University of the Bahamas. The Tiffany Austin Fellowship intends to preserve Dr. Austin’s vision of supporting diaspora writing from a region that she loved. It was established and seeded by an anonymous donor.
