Since 2018, we’ve been proud to play a role in the much-needed elevation of women writers of color with our annual She Writes Press and SparkPress Toward Equality in Publishing (STEP) contest. To date, we’ve awarded 14 authors publishing contracts to do our part to address some of the publishing industry’s systemic inequities. We are so proud to bring these incredible stories to market, which have been featured in media and trades like Parade, Foreword, and Newsweek and also won multiple awards.

Please join us in congratulating our 2024 STEP contest winners, Fartumo Kusow and Nia I. Gilliam! 

We’d also like to give a special thanks to our 2024 judges, Joylynn M. Ross (CEO of Path to Publishing and award-winning teaching artist), 2022 STEP winner Lally Pia MD, and literary agent Anna Ghosh (Ghosh Literary).

MEDIA: Find our STEP contest media deck here. To be considered as a judge in next year’s contest, please contact info@shewritespress.com.

Congratulations to our 2024 STEP contest winners!

Fartumo Kusow, Winter of My Spring, SparkPress, Spring 2026

Born in Somalia, Fartumo Kusow immigrated to Canada in 1991 at the onset of the civil war. Her first English-language novel, Tale of a Boon’s Wife, was published by Second Story Press in October 2017, receiving positive reviews from the Harvard Review, Booklist, and This Magazine. Before this, her debut novel Amran, written in Somali, was serialized in 1984 in October Star, Somalia’s national newspaper. In addition to her work as an author, she writes, hosts, and produces two weekly podcast shows, My Mother, the Person and the Patient and Break the Silence, Build a Future. As an author, advocate, educator, storyteller, speaker, and podcaster, Fartumo uses her platform to raise awareness against intimate partner violence and to advocate for those serving as caregivers to loved ones living with Alzheimer’s.

About Winter of My Spring: Set in the Lower Shabeele region of Somalia, Winter of My Spring is a story of Rada and her friends Mika and Sara, who are kidnapped by Al-Shabaab and forced to become child brides, to live in fear and endure the harshest of conditions among their extremist kidnappers. After Rada and Mika see Sara die as a suicide bomber, they escape their captors and return home. However, their community rejects them because they’ve “known a man’s bed.” Winter of My Spring explores what happens to such girls during their captivity and after they survive the violence and abuse of their kidnappers. Due to traditions that view them as ruined and broken, Rada and Mika struggle to regain their place in the community. Like the characters in Nurrudin Farah’s North of Dawn, and Katherena Vermette’s The Break, the characters in Winter of My Spring attempt to return to a life denied them. Eventually they find hope in the process of healing.

Nia I. Gilliam, Cleared for Takeoff, She Writes Press, Fall 2026

Captain Nia I. Gilliam is a trail-blazing Black female airline pilot and Captain on the Airbus 320 for a major U.S. airline. She holds type ratings in the B737, B757/767, B777, B787, and Airbus. She cofounded Sisters of the Skies, Inc., a nonprofit that received the prestigious Henderson Trophy for its lasting impact on the advancement of aviation. Nia’s career has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Egretha Award, the Council of Urban Professionals Industry Innovator Award, and she was named a 2024 honoree in the Women Leading Travel & Hospitality Top Women Report. Her story has been featured in media outlets such as CBS News, Essence, and Marie Claire. She was also highlighted in PBS’s American Masters: The Women’s List alongside Shonda Rhimes and Nancy Pelosi. A breast cancer survivor, Nia advocates for women’s health. She lives in Houston with her son, who is a pilot, and her daughter, who is not interested in becoming a pilot. Cleared for Takeoff on 9/11 will be Nia’s debut memoir.

Cleared for Takeoff on 9/11: A Pilot’s Memoir tells the story of Captain Nia I. Gilliam, a Black female pilot who witnesses the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers from the flight deck before taking off from Newark International Airport. The trauma of that day leaves her questioning her passion for flying. Shortly after, Nia discovers she is pregnant, becoming the first pregnant pilot at her airline. This revelation forces her to reevaluate both her personal identity and professional life in an industry that has long lacked diversity. The memoir traces Nia’s roots to her family’s origins in Chicago, where both sets of her grandparents migrated during the Great Migration. Her parents played a critical role in nurturing her childhood dream to fly. Inspired by Black aviation pioneers like Bessie Coleman, Nia’s journey unfolds against systemic barriers and personal triumphs. Nia’s return to the skies marks not only a professional comeback but also a profound personal transformation. Her story inspires readers to overcome adversity, stay resilient, and find their own path to takeoff.