Abdul Ali is a poet and essayist who lives, works, and dreams in Baltimore. His writing has been published in The Atlantic, The L.A. Times, and The Washington Post. For his literary work, Ali has been recognized by the Robert Deutsch Foundation, Cave Canem Foundation, Sewanee, DC Commission on the Arts, and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts (VCCA). He is the author of Trouble Sleeping which won the 2014 New Issues Poetry Book Prize selected by Fannie Howe.