The Fiction Sessions

Adrian Van Young is the author of four books of fiction: the story collection, The Man Who Noticed Everything (Black Lawrence Press), the novel, Shadows in Summerland (Open Road Media), the collection, Midnight Self (Black Lawrence Press), and Rough Beast, a heavy metal New Orleans noir (forthcoming from Black Lawrence Press in October 2026.) His fiction, non-fiction & criticism have been published or are forthcoming in Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, Black Warrior Review, Conjunctions,  Guernica, BOMB, Granta, McSweeney's and The New Yorker online, among others. He is a professional freelance editor, and lives in New Orleans with his family. More at: adrianvanyoung.com.

Vivi Estaris (she/they) is a queer Filipino-American author who is chock full of worms. They graduated from Louisiana State University, where they earned the John Ed Bradley Award for Best Short Fiction. Vivi’s work has appeared in Tales of Horror and will soon be appearing on Tales to Terrify.

Shelby is a librarian who collects books, hobbies, and graduate degrees. In her spare time, she knits socks, crochets hats, grows houseplants, pickles vegetables, and sometimes even writes. You can find her leading crafty programs and writing workshops at New Orleans Public Library.

Nat Lawrence is a professional musician, amateur writer, and amateur adult. Over a 15 year career as a working musician his songs grew more and more wordy until he realized that, despite his best efforts, he had become a short story author. In both his songwriting and storytelling he goes by the moniker Orphaned in Storyville.

Sarah McRaney is from Star, MS. She graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree in English and Creative Writing in May 2025. She now lives in New Orleans and works as a French Immersion Teaching Assistant. Sarah spends most of her free time reading and writing poetry and fiction.

Josh has at various points in his life been a trail worker, an adult bladder control medication tester, a pool boy, a comedian, and (currently) a software engineer. Throughout it all he’s been a storyteller, and loved exploring the way that stories shape and are shaped by our lives.

Elizabeth Prats is an agented, Cuban-American author-illustrator and Senior Director at an award-winning communications agency. She writes middle grade and young adult stories featuring epic adventures and fierce Latine heroes. Based in New Orleans with her two cats, Elizabeth finds inspiration strolling the French Quarter with an iced latte or savoring jamón ibérico on Spain’s coast. Find her at @artlizified on Instagram, @lizified on BlueSky, and www.elizabethprats.com.