Kleaver Cruz

A lover of words and their meanings across languages, Kleaver Cruz (they/them) was born and raised in Uptown, NYC between The Bronx and Washington Heights with their twin and small Dominican family. Kleaver is a Black queer writer, educator and artist that is deeply interested in the crevices of archives and history. Their work is the marriage between curiosity of what has come before and the creative imagining of what can be; there's an insistence on creating mirrors and clearing up the ones already there. They have presented and conducted work across the African Diaspora and continent in places like Brazil, South Africa and The Netherlands, among other countries. Kleaver is the Facilitator of The Black Joy Project, a digital and real-world affirmation that Black joy is resistance. Kleaver is a 2024 nominee for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Debut Author. They are the author of The Black Joy Project: A Literary and Visual Love Letter to How We Thrive. (Mariner Books/HarperCollins). Kleaver believes in the power of words to write the stories that did not exist when they needed them the most.