Ebony Flowers was born and raised in Maryland. She holds a B.A. in biological anthropology from the University of Maryland College Park and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she wrote her dissertation as a comic (mostly). Ebony is a 2017 Rona Jaffe Award recipient. She lives in Denver, Colorado. Hot Comb is her first collection of short stories.

“My Lil Sister Lena” is from Hot Comb, in stores now. Copyright Ebony Flowers. Images courtesy Drawn and Quarterly.