Sherrie Fernandez-Williams, author of Soft: A Memoir, holds an MFA in writing from Hamline University and is a recipient of an Artist Initiative Award through the Minnesota State Arts Board, a Beyond the Pure the Pure Fellowship & SASE/Jerome Award through Intermedia Arts, and the Jones’ Commission Award through the Playwrights’ Center. She was a selected participant in the Loft Mentor Series for Creative Nonfiction, and the Givens Black Writers Collaborative. Her work has been published in various literary magazines and anthologies. Fernandez-Williams discovered her need for words in Brooklyn, NY where she was born and raised, but “grew up” as a writer in the Twin Cities.