Banke Awopetu-McCullough is a natural teacher and story teller. Her passion for words and books began at an early age and offered an escape from the otherness she often felt. As the daughter of a southern Black woman and brazen Nigerian man, McCullough has an inherited awareness and appreciation of her Blackness that is emitted through all of her endeavors.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Drama and African/African American
Studies at the University of Virginia. She also earned a Master’s in Adolescent Education from Roberts Wesleyan.

Her writing career officially began as a reporter for her university
newspaper and online hip hop magazine. She wrote album reviews,
interviewed burgeoning stars, and covered Black cultural events. After
graduation, McCullough taught English for more than a decade in the
Rochester City School District in Rochester, New York. She uses her teaching and writing to inspire and empower others.

McCullough currently works as an adjunct professor in the developmental
studies department at Monroe Community College. She equips a mostly
Black student population to harness the power of the written word. She
also spends her time consulting with the Rochester School District on
school climate reform and sharing her story with other teachers to allow
them to unburden themselves.

Her debut novel, Always Want More took three years to complete. Teaching
by day and writing at night, the story she always felt was brewing inside
of her was written.

Always Want More is an urban coming of age story from the teacher’s
perspective. The protagonist is a writer turned teacher struggling to find
herself, love, and her place in the community.

In her spare time, Banke Awopetu-McCullough can be found daydreaming,