Benin Lemus is a teacher, poet, and essayist. She is a fall 2016 mentee with AWP’s Writer-to-Writer mentorship program. Benin has written and performed work for Center Theater Group’s Community as Partners program. She teaches writing to high school students and is confident in their ability to create positive change in the world through the written word and service. Benin is at work on her first poetry collection that explores compassion and radical forgiveness in the face of racial violence and genocide. She lives in South Los Angeles with her family.