Billie Holiday: The Graphic Novel

Ebony Gilbert is the co-author of Women in Jazz Graphic Novels: Billie Holiday. Strongly impacted by the poverty, violence, and drug use she witnessed as a child living in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood, Ebony has devoted her life to using the written word to highlight marginalized communities, give a voice to the voiceless, and capture the experiences of the disenfranchised.  While in high school, Ebony served as a frequent contributor to the Miami Herald and the Miami Times, where she published stories that called out the systemic racism and inequality facing minority youth. After earning a degree in English from the University of Florida, where she researched Black women in media, Ebony moved to Los Angeles and interned for a variety of high-profile media companies, including BET, The Queen Latifah Show, and Overbrook, Will Smith’s production company, all while earning her M.F.A. in Screenwriting from Loyola Marymount University. In addition to co-writing and directing complex[ion] woman, an award-winning play that explores the intricacies of Black womanhood, Ebony was named a 2018 Writer to Watch by WeForShe. She currently works as a story editor on The CW’s Batwoman.David Calcano is the founder and creative director of Fantoons, an animation studio based in Los Angeles. David was born in Caracas, Venezuela and has been watching cartoons ever since he was inside his mom’s belly. As an adult, he moved to the UK, where he worked as a systems engineer until he dropped his career to pursue his true dream: to build an animation studio, create cartoons and publish books that merge music and creative art. Throughout his career, David has worked hand-in-hand with some of the top companies and musical artists around the world, including The Walt Disney Company, Rush, Alice Cooper, Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, Mr. Big, Universal Music, Poison, and Steve Martin.