Bassey Ikpi

Bassey Ikpi is a Nigerian-American writer and mental health advocate. She appeared on HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam” and joined the touring company for their Tony Award-winning Broadway show. Appearing on stages across the globe as both a public speaker and TV personality, Bassey has also added contributor editor for Catapult to her growing credentials. An active voice in the mental health community and a pop culture connoisseur, her essays on both topics can be found on platforms including "The Root", "Ebony" and "The Africa Report". Bassey’s essay, "Just To Get By", appears in the anthology for Temple University Press, WHO WILL SPEAK FOR AMERICA. Bassey is the founder of The Siwe Project, a mental health organization whose mission is to spread mental health awareness in the global Black community. She is also the creator of #NoShameDay, an initiative that normalizes conversations surrounding mental health in order to reduce stigma. Her debut essay collection, I'M TELLING THE TRUTH, BUT I'M LYING, is forthcoming from Harper-Perennial in August 2019. In short: Bassey Ikpi is a Nigerian-American writer, ex-poet, constant mental health advocate, underachieving overachiever and memoir procrastinator. She lives in Maryland.