Maya Phillips, born and raised in New York, is the author of the debut poetry collection Erou, published by Four Way Books in 2019. Her second book, NERD: On Navigating Heroes, Magic, and Fandom in the 21st Century, is forthcoming in summer 2022 from Atria Books. Maya received her MFA in poetry from Warren Wilson’s MFA Program for Writers and her BFA from Emerson College. Her poetry has appeared in At Length, BOAAT, The Gettysburg Review, Ghost Proposal, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Vinyl, and more, and her arts & entertainment journalism has appeared in The New York Times, Vulture, Slate, Mashable, American Theatre, and more. Maya currently works at The New York Times and as a freelance writer. She lives in Brooklyn.