Priya Dames (she/her) is a writer and journalist. Her work has been featured in The News & Observer, Triad City Beat, and Rowdy Magazine. In addition to her essays and criticism, Priya writes short stories, which can be found on her Substack newsletter, The Cocoon. She is a 2025 Winter Roots. Wounds. Words. Fellow in Creative Nonfiction. She is the founder of the BIPOC Writing Group, a biweekly workshop at Scuppernong Books that hopes to provide belonging, camaraderie, and soft accountability to writers of color in North Carolina.