Dowell, Ron L.: - Author / Poet / Community Activist Ron L. Dowell holds two master's degrees from California State University Long Beach. In June 2017, he received the UCLA Certificate in Fiction Writing. He's a 2018 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow. His story collection Crooked Out of Compton is a semi-finalist in the Chestnut Review Stubborn Artists Contest and a finalist for the Black Lawrence Press 2020 Big Moose Prize. His short story "Don't Worry" was a finalist in the 2021 Prime Number Magazine Award for Short Fiction. "Bruised" is a Tulip Tree Merit Prize winner. He connects gritty stories showing how people find hope and joy in lives where basic needs are demanding to be met. Ron's stories talk about a suite of sociopolitical realities in an honest, thoughtful way that challenges stereotypes and humanizes people. Running Wild Press' RIZE imprint released Crooked Out of Compton on Labor Day, 2024.Ron's poetry has appeared in Penumbra, Writers Resist, Oyster Rivers Pages, North Dakota Quarterly, The Wax Paper, Kallisto Gaia Press, The Penmen Review, Packingtown Review-Journal, and The Poeming Pigeon. World Stage Press released his Watts UpRise collection in July 2022. crookedoutofcompton.com/instagram.com/cpt4cops