Anand Prahlad has published two books of poems, Hear My Story and Other Poems and As Good As Mango, as well as publishing poems and creative nonfiction in literary journals such as Fifth Wednesday, Water~Stone Review, Copper Nickle, Pleiades, The Chariton Review, and Natural Bridge. He recently completed a new collection of poetry, Hijra, which focuses on black third-gender identity.

Prahlad is a folklorist and a fellow in the American Folklore Society. He has published critical articles and books on black folklore and proverbs, including Reggae Wisdom: Proverbs in Jamaican Music and African American Proverbs in Context. He edited the three-volume set The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Folklore and the one-volume The Greenwood Student Encyclopedia of African American Folklore.

Prahlad is a songwriter and musician who plays multiple instruments, including the  mbira from the Shona people of Zimbabwe. He released an original blues CD, Hover Near, in 2008 and is working on a second CD. He is a cofounder of the Chiyedza Mbira Ensemble, which has performed throughout the United States with internationally renowned artists such as Musekiwa Chingodza.

Prahlad holds an MA and a PhD in folklore studies and sociolinguistics from UC Berkeley and UCLA. He is director of creative writing at the University of Missouri, where teaches folklore, film, creative writing, and disability studies and has earned numerous major teaching awards.