Shirlette Ammons first collection of poetry, Stumphole Aunthology of Bakwoods Blood, was published by Big Drum Press in 2002. Her work recently appeared in the anthologies The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South, edited by Nikky Finney, and What Your Momma Never Told You: True Stories about Love and Sex, edited by Tara Roberts, and in the Asheville Poetry Review. She has received a John Hope Franklin Grant for Documentary Studies, the Ebony-Harlem Award for Literary Talent, as well as Emerging Artist Grants from both the Durham Arts Council and the United Arts Council. She is also vocalist and co-bassist for the hip-hop rock band Mosadi Music whose debut album, The Window, was released in 2006. She lives in Durham, North Carolina, with her partner and their dog, Zaji.