Award-winning young adult, horror, fantasy, and science fiction author Maurice Broaddus is the inaugural Writer in Residence for the Center for Africana Studies & Culture (CASC) in the IU School of Liberal Arts in Indianapolis.

Mr. Broaddus is also a community organizer and a teacher and librarian at the Oaks Academy Middle School where he led the effort to restore its historic Dunbar Library. He also founded and is the curator of the writers’ conference, MoCon, which brings together creatives, to continue to build the writing community and celebrate them. Mr. Broaddus is also the resident Afrofuturist for the Kheprw Institute. Some of his awards include the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Awards in Genre, presented by Indiana Humanities for his novel, Pimp My Airship, and A Children & Young Adult Literary Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Inc. In 2023, he was selected as one of the 250 most influential business leaders in Indiana by the Indianapolis Business Journal.

As CASC’s Writer in Residence, Dr. Broaddus will work closely with Dr. Ronda Henry, professor of African American Literature and Africana Studies, to develop writing experiences for community members, consult on CASC arts and humanities initiatives, and convene the upcoming CASC-sponsored Afrofuturism Literature Symposium planned for late 2025.

Mr. Broaddus joins CASC Prestigious Fellow A’Lelia Bundles and CASC Artist in Residence Rob Dixon in the Center’s residency initiative.