Danielle Bainbridge is an Assistant Professor of Theatre, Black Studies, and Performance Studies at Northwestern University. Her first academic book Currencies of Cruelty: Slavery, Freak Shows, and the Performance Archive is forthcoming in 2025 from NYU Press. Her first memoir Dandelion: A Memoir in Essays is forthcoming from Jaded Ibis Press in 2025, where it was the winner of the inaugural Uplift Voices Nonfiction Prize. Dandelion was a semi-finalist for the 2016 Kore Press Memoir Award, the 2023 St. Lawrence Prize from Black Lawrence Press, and the 2024 Creative Nonfiction Award from Autumn House Press and has received scholarships/residencies from Tin House, the Adirondack Center for Writing, and the Banff Centre in Canada. Her web series and media work have been nominated for 3 Daytime Emmy Awards and 1 NAACP Image Award. She lives and loves in Chicago with her partner and 2 naughty cats.