Author Io Tillett Wright. I WAS BORN, SEPTEMBER 1985, IN THE VORTEX OF THE LOWER EAST SIDE OF NEW YORK: THERE WERE FEW RULES OF LIFE AND ZERO CONTRAINTS ON BEHAVIOUR. There iO grew up – or rather scrabbled up – under the broken wing of a fiercely protective, yet wildly negligent was a showgirl, actress, dancer, poet.