Cynthia J. Sylvester is born into the Kiyaa’áanii Clan for the Bilagáana Clan and is an enrolled member of the Diné. She is a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her work has appeared in ABQ in Print, Leon Literary Review, Lunch Ticket, As Us Journal, and Bosque—The Magazine, among others. She was the recipient of the Native Writer Award at the Taos Writer’s Conference. Cynthia received her MFA in fiction from the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.

Sylvester’s debut book The Half-White Album, published with the University of New Mexico Press, is the 2023 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award Best LGBTQ+ book.

“This compelling debut collection explores liminal spaces, love, trauma and healing through poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Sylvester’s writing is radiant, the musicality is visceral and the voices are captivating and prismatic.”

—Karla Strand, Ms. Magazine