Dr. Nora Nneka Ekeanya is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist and board certified adult psychiatrist based in Kansas City, MO. Raised by Nigerian immigrant parents, she obtained her bachelor’s degree in pre-medical biology from the University of Florida and went on to attend the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. During her psychiatry residency training at the University of Missouri- Kansas City, Dr. Ekeanya started publicly writing articles detailing her experiences as a Black female physician and was featured in the popular physician blog, KevinMD. Her essay, Sense of Touch, was included in the live storytelling event, Shelf Life and was revised for the December 2020 issue of Isele Magazine. In April 2022, she won Isele Magazine's inaugural Isele Prize in nonfiction for Sense of Touch. Her first visual poem, Identity, won 2nd place at the Queens Underground International Black and Brown Film Festival in October 2021. She was shortlisted for C&R Press’ Summer Tide Pool Chapbook Awards 2021 before self-publishing Swallowed Words in October 2022. She has been featured in The Pitch Kansas City, The Kansas City Defender, and VoyageKC.