About the Couple

There are few words that could accurately and respectfully describe Nate Mask, so I’ll try my best to use the least controversial ones here. Born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in the imaginary city of Dover, Delaware (let’s be real, Delaware definitely isn’t a real place), it wasn’t long before Nate realized he was a big fish in a small pond. Endowed with a disarming personality, quick wit, and the unnerving ability to be his complete and whole self even when it seemed like the rest of the world was wearing masks, Nate found himself swimming from the pond of Dover to the lakes of Chicago, Illinois, before eventually returning home to the ocean that is Atlanta. It was in Atlanta that Nate discovered his love for spoken word poetry; spending the moments that he wasn’t working and making connections with the children at Camp Wieuca, writing and performing on the stages of Red Light Cafe, Java Monkey and Urban Grind Coffee Shop. And surprisingly enough, Nate turned out to be pretty good at poetry.

Cementing himself as a staple in the Atlanta poetry scene, Nate participated in multiple local poetry slams, the Individual World Poetry Slam, multiple National Poetry Slams across the country, and led the Art Amok Slam Team to bring home the city’s first Group Piece Championship trophy in 2018. And when he found that the ocean of Atlanta was too small to contain him once again, Nate formed the poetry duo, “Nobody Likes Us, But We’re Here Anyway,” with another Atlanta poet, and took his relatable, yet incredibly insightful stories to over 20 states and Canada. Through his work as a poet, Nate has touched the hearts of many-a-person searching for belonging through the darkness. As a friend, Nate has given the shirt off of his back and a bed in his home to anyone and everyone willing to share a beer and a laugh with him. Nate truly embodies his big fish personality…

…but somehow, it was he who landed the catch of the century in Stephanie Toliver

Stephanie is one of the most amazing women who has ever been born. (It's true; I checked.) Born in Nebraska and raised across Pennsylvania and Florida, Stephanie has a heart bigger than whatever room you're in right now. Originally in school at Florida A&M University (FAMU) for public relations, a community service experience where she helped a tween who was struggling to read led Stephanie down a different path toward becoming a literacy educator. It was while teaching English at Leon High School and earning her master's degree from Florida State University (FSU) that she gave birth to her son, Ashton, a vibrant and energetic kid with a heart as big as his mother's.

Stephanie went on to earn her PhD in Language and Literacy Education from the University of Georgia (UGA). This started her work understanding the literacy practices of Black girls, particularly as these pertain to science fiction and fantasy as a way to understand and process Black girls' real world experiences. As a PhD student and now as a professor at the University of Colorado, Stephanie has won many awards and grants and has been asked to speak at several conferences due to her revolutionary work.

Oh, and... she kind of likes Nate and they're ridiculously good together. Like, it's weird.