Whitney Lakin

Whitney Lakin (born February 121979 in Pontiac, Michigan) is a novelist, poet, short story writer and foreign language instructor. Lakin was born and raised in metro Detroit, Michigan. She has also lived in Washington, D.C., Orleans, France and Montpellier, France. In 2002, she moved to New Orleans, a town she cites as her spiritual, psychic and creative home. Since her move, the city has featured prominently in her writing. In 2006, Lakin began her doctoral research at Tulane University. She cites literature of the supernatural, including the French conte fantastique, as her primary area of interest. In 2006, she was awarded the MAAS prize for her critical essay on exile in the wake of hurricane Katrina. Lakin currently divides her time between her residences in New Orleans and Lyon, France.

Lakin's fiction has been touted as masterful and sardonic excursions into the depths of Hell. She is best known for her full-length horror novels, "A Paintbrush in the Devil's Toolbox" and Mutiny in Heaven and for her spoken word collection, "White Noise, Black Words". The latter is a rare find to which her younger brother and soul mate, Noah Lakin, contributed only two years before his death at age 20. Her poetry has been featured in The Harrow Anthology and Ellipsis Literary Magazine. She has placed fiction with Trail of Indiscretion, Midnight Times, Black Petals and Twisted Dreams Magazine. Lakin has also appeared on the cover of New Witch magazine.

Lakin is a member of the Seven Devils artist community in New Orleans, Louisiana. Decadent and socially conscious, affiliates are equally known for their brooding, sometimes suicidal take on life and their keen sense of humor and play.