Zenique
Gardner Perry

Zenique Gardner Perry writes stories about family, race, faith and all its intersections. Sometimes, her work pushes a social justice agenda. While a Midwestern native, Zenique eventually moved to Philadelphia where she ultimately received an English Writing degree from Eastern University and spent a semester abroad in East Africa. In 2013, Zenique was the sole American writer selected as a Farafina Fellow by renown Nigerian author, Chimamanda Adichie. There, Zenique joined writers across the Diaspora in a two-week residency in Lagos, Nigeria.

In 2015, Zenique moved back to St. Louis after living in Philadelphia for over a decade. She has since co-founded Undo Bias, a consulting group that accompanies organizations in their antiracism efforts. In her work, Zenique incorporates writing as a way to address racism. A graduate of the MFA Creative Nonfiction Program at Washington University in St. Louis, Zenique has also received awards and support for her writing from The Delacorte Review, The Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow in Arkansas, Storyknife Women Writers’ Retreat in Alaska, and The Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis. She is currently working on a collection of essays that explore the iconography of white Jesus. Zenique lives in St. Louis, Missouri with her husband, niece and nephew.