Lori L. Tharps is a writer whose work meets at the intersection of race and real life. She is an author, journalist, educator, podcast host, and popular speaker.

Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Lori attended Smith College, where she had the opportunity to spend her junior year studying abroad in Salamanca, Spain. After graduating from Smith, Lori spent two years working on Madison Avenue at one of New York City’s top-ten public relations agencies. Soon after, she entered Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and has been writing her way through the world ever since.

Lori began her journalism career as a staff reporter at Vibe magazine and then as a correspondent for Entertainment Weekly. She has written for The Columbia Journalism Review, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, The Root.com and The Washington Post. 

Lori is also the award-winning author of three critically-acclaimed nonfiction books including, Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America (St. Martin's) Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love & Spain (Atria), and Same Family, Different Colors: Confronting Colorism in America's Diverse Families (Beacon) She also penned the novel, Substitute Me(Atria).

In 2021, Lori moved with her family to the south of Spain so she could pursue a full-time career as a creative writer. She launched the Reed, Write, & Create platform in 2022. Reed, Write & Create provides resources, information, and actionable inspiration via blog and award-winning podcast to BIPoC writers who want to get their stories into the world. The Reed, Write, & Create Sanctuary is a private community for BIPoC women who take their writing seriously.

In 2023, Lori was accepted into the inaugural cohort of the Silk Road Slippers Masterclass in Marrakech. In 2025, Lori was awarded a Black Atlantic fellowship at the Library of Africa and the African Diaspora in Accra, Ghana. She is currently at work on a novel inspired by her new home in Andalucía.