Ibi Zoboi
Ibi Zoboi's debut novel American Street was a National Book Award finalist. She is also the New York Times Bestselling author of Pride, My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich, and Punching the Air with co-author and Exonerated Five member, Yusef Salaam. She is the editor of the anthology Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America. Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, she now lives in New Jersey with her husband and their three children.
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Jen Ferguson
Jen Ferguson (she/her/hers) Métis (on her father's side) and Canadian settler (on her mother's side) is an activist, a feminist, an auntie, and an accomplice armed with a PhD. She believes writing, teaching and beading are political acts. She is represented by Patricia Nelson at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
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Her debut young adult novel, THE SUMMER OF BITTER AND SWEET, is forthcoming from Heartdrum / Harper Collins in the summer of 2022. Her first book for adults, Border Markers, a collection of interrelated flash fiction stories, is out now with NeWest Press.
She lives and works in Los Angeles.
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Tracey M. Hook
Natural Elements is my first published YA novel and second manuscript. I am currently working on my third, Evan, about a teenage boy growing up in Tacoma, WA during the 1970s. My daughter Jordan was the inspiration for Natural Elements. Having the same background as the main character-being of mixed race, black/South Asian and finding very little information or books written about girls with similar backgrounds, I decided to write something she could identify with. However, the theme of the novel is universal. Natural Elements is for all the girls and women who are searching--trying to find themselves in a complicated world.
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My work experience/educational background includes secondary English teacher with the New York City and Seattle publi -
Cat Bohannon
Researcher, scholar, writer, freak. Cat completed her PhD in 2022 at Columbia University, where she studied the evolution of narrative and cognition. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Scientific American, Science, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Lapham's Quarterly, The Georgia Review, and on The Story Collider. Eve is her first book and a New York Times bestseller. She lives in the U.S. with her partner and two offspring.
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Gail Giles
Gail Giles is the author of six young adult novels. Her debut novel, Shattering Glass, was an ALA Best of the Best Book, a Book Sense 76 selection, and a Booklist Top 10 Mystery for Youth selection. The novel is about an high school boy named Simon Glass that is helped to become one of the most popular dogs in school by other students. Her second novel, Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters, was an ALA Top 10 Quick pick (2003) and a Book Sense 76 selection. Her third novel, Playing in Traffic, is an epic story about a boy trying to help a gothic girl.
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She is a former high school teacher who grew up in Texas and now lives there happily with her husband, two dogs, and three cats. Gail has one son and two grandsons. -
Bethany C. Morrow
Bethany C Morrow is a national bestselling author.
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Her young adult novels include A Song Below Water, A Chorus Rises, and the Little Women remix, So Many Beginnings, and she is editor/contributor to the young adult anthology Take The Mic, which won the 2020 ILA Social Justice in Literature award.
Her adult novels include Mem, and the social horror, Cherish Farrah. Her upcoming release, The Body, is a churchianity horror.
Honored as SLJ Gold Selections, a Locus, Fiyah, and Audie finalist for Best YA Novel, and an Indies Introduce and Indie next pick, her work has been featured in The LA Times, Forbes, Bustle, Buzzfeed, and more. She is included on USA TODAY's list of 100 Black novelists and fiction writers you should read. -
DeAndra Davis
DeAndra, an autistic and neurodivergent Jamaican-American author, has been reading since she could remember and writing since anyone put a pen in her hand. When she isn't delving into fantasy worlds or scaring herself with thrilling tales, she is playing some role-playing game (probably The Witcher series). A young adult novelist, she enjoys exploring the intersections of different identities as much as she enjoys exploring her own.
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DeAndra graduated with her BA in English Literature from Minot State University and her MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University. She is an Instructor of English at Florida Atlantic University where she regularly teaches creative writing, literature, and composition courses.
She is a married -
Dinesh Thiru
Dinesh Thiru is a writer and stay-at-home dad currently living in Barcelona. He grew up in North Carolina, married his college sweetheart from the University of Pennsylvania, and spent over a decade in San Francisco. Dinesh is half-Indian, half-white. He loves the ocean. He used to have other interests, but he swapped them for kids. Those kids are seven, four, and a dog. Find him at DineshThiru.com or TikTok.com/@dineshmt9.
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Brittney Morris
Brittney Morris is the author of SLAY, THE COST OF KNOWING,MARVEL'S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES - WINGS OF FURY, THE JUMP, and THIS BOOK MIGHT BE ABOUT ZINNIA. She holds an economics degree from Boston University and has written for video games including The Lost Legends of Redwall, and Subnautica: Below Zero. She spends her spare time reading, playing video games, and enjoying the rain from her home in Philadelphia. She lives with her son Atlas. Brittney is the founder and former president of the Boston University Creative Writing Club and looks forward to NaNoWriMo every year.
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John LeViness
I am not a normal man. I am not crazy. Or dangerous. I live a very normal life, one that is filled with love and happiness, surrounded by a wonderfully supportive family. Yet, they have all come to accept the same truth, as I have.
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Arth started summoning me long ago, when I was but a young boy, pulling me out of this world and transporting me there. Like some mental tag along, I found myself riding inside the minds of others, a captive that saw what they did, felt what they touched, and bled when... I have taken a thousand last breaths. Loved and lost myriads. I have seen, killed, and lived as monsters. I have drowned and held others under. I have soared above the clouds on my own wings more times than I can count.
I know what you are think -
James Lincoln Collier
James Lincoln Collier (born June 27, 1928) is a journalist, author, and professional musician.
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Collier's notable literary works include My Brother Sam Is Dead (1974), a Newbery Honor book that was also named a Notable Children's Book by the American Library Association and nominated for a National Book Award in 1975. He also wrote a children's book titled The Empty Mirror (2004), The Teddy Bear Habit (1967), about an insecure boy whose beatnik guitar teacher turns out to be a crook, and Rich and Famous (1975), sequel to The Teddy Bear Habit. His list of children's books also includes Chipper (2001), about a young boy in a gang. His writings for adults include numerous books on jazz, including biographies of Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman and -
Libba Bray
What is it about writing an author bio that gives me that deer-in-headlights feeling? It's not exactly like I'm going to say "I was born in Alabama…" and somebody's going to jump up and snarl, "Oh yeah? Prove it!" At least I hope not.
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I think what gets me feeling itchy is all that emphasis on the facts of a life, while all the juicy, relevant, human oddity stuff gets left on the cutting room floor. I could tell you the facts–I lived in Texas for most of my life; I live in New York City with my husband and six-year-old son now; I have freckles and a lopsided smile; I'm allergic to penicillin.
But that doesn't really give you much insight into me. That doesn't tell you that I stuck a bead up my nose while watching TV when I was four and thought -
Brian Selznick
Hello there. My name is Brian Selznick and I’m the author and illustrator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret. I was born in 1966 in New Jersey. I have a sister who is a teacher, a brother who is a brain surgeon, and five nephews and one niece. I studied at The Rhode Island School of Design and after I graduated from college I worked at Eeyore’s Books for Children in New York City. I learned all about children’s books from my boss Steve Geck who is now an editor of children’s books at Greenwillow. While I was at Eeyore’s I also painted the windows for holidays and book events.
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My first book, The Houdini Box, which I both wrote and illustrated, was published in 1991 while I was still working at the bookstore. Since then, I have illustrated many -
Candace Fleming
I have always been a storyteller. Even before I could write my name, I could tell a good tale. And I told them all the time. As a preschooler, I told my neighbors all about my three-legged cat named Spot. In kindergarten, I told my classmates about the ghost that lived in my attic. And in first grade I told my teacher, Miss Harbart, all about my family's trip to Paris, France.
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I told such a good story that people always thought I was telling the truth. But I wasn't. I didn't have a three-legged cat or a ghost in my attic, and I'd certainly never been to Paris, France. I simply enjoyed telling a good story... and seeing my listener's reaction.
Sure, some people might have said I was a seven-year old fibber. But not my parents. Instead of calli -
Maria van Lieshout
Maria grew up in the Amsterdam area, and studied Visual Communications at George Washington University in DC. Maria has a background in brand design and innovation and has illustrated/written 15 picture books for kids. Song of a Blackbird, Maria's historical graphic novel about a female artist in the Amsterdam resistance during WWII, is available NOW!
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Please follow Maria on Instagram at @vanlieshoutstudio or visit www.vanlieshoutstudio.com for more information. -
Jason Reynolds
Jason Reynolds is an American author of novels and poetry for young adult and middle-grade audience. After earning a BA in English from The University of Maryland, College Park, Jason Reynolds moved to Brooklyn, New York, where you can often find him walking the four blocks from the train to his apartment talking to himself. Well, not really talking to himself, but just repeating character names and plot lines he thought of on the train, over and over again, because he’s afraid he’ll forget it all before he gets home.
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Renée Watson
Renée Watson is the author of the children’s picture book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen (Random House, June 2010), which was featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Her middle grade novel, What Momma Left Me debuted as the New Voice for 2010 in middle grade fiction by The Independent Children's Booksellers Association.
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Renée’s one woman show, Roses are Red, Women are Blue, debuted at New York City's Lincoln Center at a showcase for emerging artists. Her poetry and articles have been published in Rethinking Schools, Theatre of the Mind and With Hearts Ablaze.
When Renée is not writing and performing, she is teaching. Renée has worked in public schools and community organizations as an artist in residence for several years, teachin -
Ashley Hope Pérez
When I’m not reading, writing, or teaching, I hang out with my sons, Liam Miguel and Ethan Andrés. In the scraps of time that remain, I also like to run (I did the Houston Marathon in 2007 and the Chicago Marathon in 2009), bake (but let’s don’t revive the “Cookie Girl” nickname, please), watch movies, and collage.
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My novels are WHAT CAN'T WAIT, THE KNIFE AND THE BUTTERFLY, and OUT OF DARKNESS, a 2016 Printz honor book and named one of BOOKLIST's "50 Best YA Books of All Time." THE NEW YORK TIMES called it a "layered tale of color lines, love and struggle." OUT OF DARKNESS has been banned and removed in many school districts as a result of coordinated attacks against youth access to diverse books. Find out more: https://linktr.ee/ashleyhope -
Kyle Lukoff
Kyle Lukoff writes books for kids and other people.
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Before becoming a full-time writer, Kyle worked at five bookstores, in four libraries, for three schools, as two genders, through one intersection: people, and books. -
Rex Ogle
Holy moly! I am so humbled and honored for y'all to read my books. Big hugs to all of ya.
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Also, check out graphic novels under my pen name REY TERCIERO.
Bio:
REX OGLE is an award-winning author and the writer of nearly a hundred children’s books, comics, graphic novels, and memoirs—most notably Free Lunch, which won the ALA/YALSA award for Excellence in Non-Fiction.
Born and raised (mostly) in Texas, he moved to New York City after college to intern at Marvel Comics before moving over to DC Comics, Scholastic, and Little Brown Young Readers. As an editor, he championed over a dozen NY Times Bestsellers and worked on (and often wrote) major brands such as X-Men, Justice League, Star Wars, LEGO, Power Rangers, Transformers, Minecraft, Assassin -
Dean Atta
Dean was shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize for his debut poetry collection, I Am Nobody’s Nigger. His poems have been anthologised by Bad Betty Press, Emma Press, Stripes Publishing, Team Angelica and have appeared on BBC One, BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service and Channel 4. Dean was named as one of the most influential LGBT people in the UK by the Independent on Sunday. He regularly performs across the UK and internationally. Dean is a member of Keats House Poets Forum and Malika’s Poetry Kitchen. He has a Philosophy and English BA from the University of Sussex and a Writer/Teacher MA from Goldsmiths, University of London. Dean is a Tutor for Arvon and Poetry School and a Writer in Residence for First Story. His debut novel, The Bla
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C. Toni Graham
C. Toni Graham is the author of the delightful illustrated children's book "Gabby Giggles". Her YA novel, "Crossroads and the Himalayan Crystals" is the first installment of her debut trilogy. The second release in the series, "Crossroads and the Dominion of Four" is now available at all retailers. This fantasy saga is about four teenagers transported to the Otherworld. Here the teens are thrust into a magical world where they must defeat an evil druid and determine if other magical beings are allies or enemies as they face danger and challenges in their quest for answers. This fast paced fantasy is fueled with mystery, surprising plots and memorable characters. Crossroads is an extremely well-written story for readers of all ages.
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Nic Stone
Nic Stone was born and raised in a suburb of Atlanta, GA, and the only thing she loves more than an adventure is a good story about one. After graduating from Spelman College, she worked extensively in teen mentoring and lived in Israel for a few years before returning to the US to write full-time. Growing up with a wide range of cultures, religions, and backgrounds, Stone strives to bring these diverse voices and stories to her work.
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Stone lives in Atlanta with her husband and two sons. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram at @getnicced or on her website nicstone.info. -
Tiffany D. Jackson
Tiffany D. Jackson is the New York Times Bestselling author of YA novels including the Coretta Scott King — John Steptoe New Talent Award-winning Monday’s Not Coming, the NAACP Image Award-nominated Allegedly, Let Me Hear A Rhyme, and her 2020 title GROWN. She received her bachelor of arts in film from Howard University, her master of arts in media studies from the New School, and has over a decade in TV/Film experience. The Brooklyn native is a lover of naps, cookie dough, and beaches, currently residing in the borough she loves, most likely multitasking.
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Hayley Chewins
Hayley Chewins is an award-winning author of middle grade fantasy and a published poet. Her debut novel, THE TURNAWAY GIRLS (Candlewick, 2018), received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, and was named a Kirkus Best Book of 2018 as well as a 2019 Amelia Bloomer List pick. Her second novel, THE SISTERS OF STRAYGARDEN PLACE (Candlewick, 2020), also received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus, and was chosen as the 2020 Foreword Indies Gold Winner for Juvenile Fiction and an Amazon Best Book of the Month. Hayley is also the author of LOKI: SEASON ONE NOVEL (Marvel Press, 2023), a middle grade novelization of Marvel's LOKI television show, starring Tom Hiddleston. Her YA debut, I AM THE SWARM, is forthcoming from
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Andrea L. Rogers
Andrea L. Rogers is a writer from Tulsa, Oklahoma and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She graduated from the Institute of American Indian and Alaskan Arts with an MFA in Creative Writing. Currently, she is splitting time between Fayetteville, Arkansas, where she is a Ph.d. student at the University Arkansas and Fort Worth, Texas, where her family lives. Her book Mary and the Trail of Tears: A Cherokee Removal Survival Story was named an NPR Best Book of 202) by both NPR and American Indians in Children’s Literature.
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Ms. Rogers is on the Board of the Fort Worth Public Library.
A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, she is currently revising a middle grade mystery, writing an adult literary horror nov -
Liselle Sambury
Liselle Sambury is the Trinidadian-Canadian author of the Governor General’s Literary Awards Finalist, Blood Like Magic. Her work spans multiple genres, from fantasy to sci-fi, horror, and more. In her free time, she shares helpful tips for upcoming writers and details of her publishing journey through a YouTube channel dedicated to demystifying the sometimes complicated business of being an author.
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Angeline Boulley
Angeline Boulley, an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, is a storyteller who writes about her Ojibwe community in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. She gained attention from the We Need Diverse Books Mentorship Program. Angeline was the former Director of the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education. Her agent is Faye Bender at The Book Group. Firekeeper's Daughter has been optioned for a Netflix series by the Obamas' Higher Ground production company.
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Frederick Joseph
Frederick Joseph is a Yonkers, NY raised three-time New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. His books include a poetry collection, We Alive, Beloved, two books of nonfiction, Patriarchy Blues, and The Black Friend, a collaboration, Better Than We Found It, a children’s book, The Courage to Dream, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and his recent bestselling, Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly Starred reviewed YA novel, This Thing of Ours.
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Ebony LaDelle
Ebony is the author of Love Radio—which was People magazine’s best book of the summer, a 2023 Audie Award Finalist, a 2023 Michigan Notable Book, Apple Books’ best book of 2022, an Amazon's Editor Pick and was featured on the Today Show. A Baldwin Fellow, she’s also the author of the forthcoming YA romance This Could Be Forever and editor for the anthology You’ve Got a Place Here, Too. Prior to being an author, Ebony was a brand marketing director in book publishing and worked at Penguin Random House and HarperCollins, among others. You can visit her online at www.ebonyladelle.com and follow her on social at @ebonyladelle.
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DeAndra Davis
DeAndra, an autistic and neurodivergent Jamaican-American author, has been reading since she could remember and writing since anyone put a pen in her hand. When she isn't delving into fantasy worlds or scaring herself with thrilling tales, she is playing some role-playing game (probably The Witcher series). A young adult novelist, she enjoys exploring the intersections of different identities as much as she enjoys exploring her own.
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DeAndra graduated with her BA in English Literature from Minot State University and her MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University. She is an Instructor of English at Florida Atlantic University where she regularly teaches creative writing, literature, and composition courses.
She is a married -
Channelle Desamours
Channelle Desamours is an author and a high school science teacher. When she’s not napping to recover from her five a.m. writing sessions, Channelle can be found building tiny homes on The Sims 4 or cheering for Atlanta United at soccer matches. NEEDY LITTLE THINGS is her debut novel.
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Lisa Allen-Agostini
Lisa Allen-Agostini is a poet, playwright, and fiction writer from Trinidad and Tobago. She is the author of a children's novel, The Chalice Project (forthcoming, 2008). An award-winning journalist, she is the Internet editor and a columnist with the Trinidad Guardian.
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Angela Shanté
Angela Shanté is a former K-12 classroom teacher, and award-winning author of THE NOISY CLASSROOM, a picture book that she wrote about her third-grade classroom to help soothe childhood anxiety associated with school and change. The second book in the series, THE NOISY CLASSROOM GOES TO THE MUSEUM pubs MAY 2023.
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With almost 20 years of experience in education and advocacy work, Angela is focused on using her voice and platform to support, highlight, and make space for marginalized creatives in the arts and in education. In addition to her creative work, Angela works as an educational/DEI consultant supporting creative, educational, and culturally relevant projects, training, and workshops for students, adults, and organizations.
Her debut Y -
Channelle Desamours
Channelle Desamours is an author and a high school science teacher. When she’s not napping to recover from her five a.m. writing sessions, Channelle can be found building tiny homes on The Sims 4 or cheering for Atlanta United at soccer matches. NEEDY LITTLE THINGS is her debut novel.
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Maria van Lieshout
Maria grew up in the Amsterdam area, and studied Visual Communications at George Washington University in DC. Maria has a background in brand design and innovation and has illustrated/written 15 picture books for kids. Song of a Blackbird, Maria's historical graphic novel about a female artist in the Amsterdam resistance during WWII, is available NOW!
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Please follow Maria on Instagram at @vanlieshoutstudio or visit www.vanlieshoutstudio.com for more information. -
Jaime Adoff
Jaime Adoff was born in New York City but grew up in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from Central State University in Ohio, where he studied drums and percussion. Moving to New York City in 1990, he attended the Manhattan School of Music and studied drums and voice. Jaime then went on to pursue a career in songwriting and fronted his own rock band for eight years. He released two CD’s of his own material and performed extensively in New York City and throughout the US.
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He is the author of the "all ages" original poetry collection "The Song Shoots Out of My Mouth": A Celebration of Music,(2002)(Downloadable at audible.com 08') which was a Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor book,(2003) an IRA Notable book (2003 -
Kelly McWilliams
Kelly is the mixed-race author of AGNES AT THE END OF THE WORLD (2020), MIRROR GIRLS (2022), and YOUR PLANTATION PROM IS NOT OKAY (2023). AGNES was a finalist for the Golden Kite Award. She's also written for Time, Publisher's Weekly, and Bustle, among other outlets. She lives in Seattle with her family.
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Terrance Dean
Full of startling anecdotes and incredible true stories, Hiding in Hip Hop is not a traditional tell-all. "
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Liara Tamani
Liara Tamani lives in Houston, Texas. She is the author of the acclaimed young adult novels Calling My Name, All the Things We Never Knew, and What She Missed. Her words have appeared in Time Magazine, NPR, and The New York Times. And her work has been featured by Good Morning America, Buzzfeed, Essence Magazine, Teen Vogue, and more. Before becoming a writer, she attended Harvard Law School and worked as a marketing coordinator for the Houston Rockets & Comets, production assistant for Girlfriends (TV show), home accessories designer, floral designer, and yoga and dance teacher. She holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a BA from Duke University.
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Ashley Hope Pérez
When I’m not reading, writing, or teaching, I hang out with my sons, Liam Miguel and Ethan Andrés. In the scraps of time that remain, I also like to run (I did the Houston Marathon in 2007 and the Chicago Marathon in 2009), bake (but let’s don’t revive the “Cookie Girl” nickname, please), watch movies, and collage.
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My novels are WHAT CAN'T WAIT, THE KNIFE AND THE BUTTERFLY, and OUT OF DARKNESS, a 2016 Printz honor book and named one of BOOKLIST's "50 Best YA Books of All Time." THE NEW YORK TIMES called it a "layered tale of color lines, love and struggle." OUT OF DARKNESS has been banned and removed in many school districts as a result of coordinated attacks against youth access to diverse books. Find out more: https://linktr.ee/ashleyhope -
Vanessa L. Torres
Vanessa L. Torres is former dancer and an author of books for young readers. She loves to read anything with a vivid setting, but there's a special place in her heart for urban tales. She was born and raised in Minneapolis Minnesota, and now lives in Olympia Washington with her husband and daughter. When she's not writing, she balances her time between anything outdoors, and her other job as a firefighter/paramedic. And when the snow hits, you might catch a glimpse of her ski patrolling on the mountain.
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F.J. Campbell
Author of ‘No Number Nine’, and ‘The Islanders’. There's some bio info about me on my website www.fjcampbell.net.
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Jade Adia
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Jade Adia writes stories about Black nerds, anti-capitalism, and home. She is an English teacher at a middle and high school where her students graciously keep her grounded. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Ethnicity, Race & Migration as well as a law degree with a specialization in Critical Race Studies. Her debut novel, There Goes The Neighborhood, won the 2024 Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award for New Talent. Her other novels include Our Shouts Echo and Batgirl: Possession.
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Tae Keller
TAE KELLER is the Newbery award winning and New York Times bestselling author of When You Trap a Tiger and The Science of Breakable Things. She grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she subsisted on kimchi, purple rice, and stories. Now, she writes about biracial girls trying to find their voices, and lives in Seattle with her husband and a multitude of books.
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Christine Heppermann
Christine Heppermann writes fiction, poetry, and criticism. Her books include What Goes Up (coming summer 2020); Ask Me How I Got Here; Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty; City Chickens; and the Backyard Witch series (with Ron Koertge). She currently reviews young adult books for the Chicago Tribune.
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Christine grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, where she attended an all-girls Catholic high school. As an undergraduate she studied philosophy and literature at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She has a masters degree in children’s literature from Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts, and an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Christine lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with he -
Darin Strauss
A recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and a winner of the American Library Association's Alix Award and The National Book Critics Circle Award, the internationally-bestselling writer Darin Strauss is the author of the novels Chang & Eng, The Real McCoy, and More Than It Hurts You, and the NBCC-winning memoir Half a Life. These have been New York Times Notable Books, Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Amazon, Chicago Tribune, and NPR Best Books of the Year, among others. Darin has been translated into fourteen languages and published in nineteen countries, and he is a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU's creative writing program.
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Sandy Tolan
Sandy Tolan is a teacher and radio documentary producer. He is the author of two books: Me and Hank: A Boy and His Hero, Twenty-Five Years Later (Free Press, 2000), about the intersection between race, sports, and American heroes; and The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East (Bloomsbury, 2006). The Washington Post called the book “extraordinary” and selected it among their top nonfiction titles for 2006; the Christian Science Monitor wrote, “no novel could be more compelling” and proclaimed, “It will be one of the best nonfiction books you will read this year.”Sandy has reported from more than 30 countries, especially in the Middle East, Latin America, the Balkans, and Eastern Europe.
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Benjamin Klas
Pronouns: ze/zem/zer or he/him/his
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Benjamin Klas is a Queer author from Saint Paul, MN. He lives with his partner and son. Second Dad Summer (One Elm, 2020) was his first novel; the sequel, Everything Together, came out 2021. -
Kaitlyn Cavalancia
Kaitlyn Cavalancia is a YA author who loves to blend genres, infusing contemporary mysteries with magic, murder, and mayhem. Her forthcoming novel, Mystery Royale will be published by Disney-Hyperion on January 7, 2025. The sequel is slated for Spring 2026.
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Nafissa Thompson-Spires
Nafissa Thompson-Spires earned a doctorate in English from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Illinois. Her work has appeared in Story Quarterly, Lunch Ticket, and The Feminist Wire, among other publications. She was a 2016 fellow of the Callaloo Writer’s Workshop.
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Don P. Hooper
Don P. Hooper is a writer and filmmaker of Jamaican heritage (and a programmer in a former life). His short story “Got Me a Jet Pack” is part of the New York Times bestselling anthology Black Boy Joy. His directing work has been featured in the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, the New York Television Film Festival (award winner), the New York City Horror Film Festival, the New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival (award winner), and more. He does voice-over in video games and documentaries. True True is his debut novel.
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Hannah V. Sawyerr
Hannah V. Sawyerr was recognized as the Youth Poet Laureate of Baltimore in 2016. Her debut novel in verse All the Fighting Parts was a finalist for the William C. Morris Debut Award, a Walter Dean Myers Award Honoree, a Rise Feminist Book Project Top Ten Title, a Kirkus Best Book of the Year, and an ABA Indies Introduce/Indie Next Pick. Her spoken word has been featured on the BBC’s World Have Your Say program as well as the National Education Association’s “Do You Hear Us?” campaign. Her written word has been included in Essence, xoNecole, and gal-dem.
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Sawyerr holds a BA in English from Morgan State University and an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. Her sophomore novel in verse Truth Is (Abrams/Amulet) is slated for release on -
Frederick Joseph
Frederick Joseph is a Yonkers, NY raised three-time New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. His books include a poetry collection, We Alive, Beloved, two books of nonfiction, Patriarchy Blues, and The Black Friend, a collaboration, Better Than We Found It, a children’s book, The Courage to Dream, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and his recent bestselling, Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly Starred reviewed YA novel, This Thing of Ours.
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Jose Antonio Vargas
Jose Antonio Vargas is a journalist, filmmaker, and immigration rights activist. Born in the Philippines and raised in the United States from the age of twelve, he was part of The Washington Post team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting in 2008 for coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting online and in print. Vargas has also worked for the San Francisco Chronicle, the Philadelphia Daily News, and The Huffington Post. He wrote, produced, and directed the autobiographical 2013 film Documented, which CNN Films broadcast in June 2014.
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In a June 2011 essay in The New York Times Magazine, Vargas revealed his status as an undocumented immigrant in an effort to promote dialogue about the immigration system in the U.S. and to advoca -
Soniah Kamal
Soniah Kamal is an award winning novelist, essayist and public speaker. Her most recent novel, Unmarriageable: Pride & Prejudice in Pakistan, is a Financial Times Readers’ Best Book of 2019, a 2019 ‘Books All Georgians Should Read,’ a 2020 Georgia Author of the Year for Literary Fiction nominee, is shortlisted for the 2020 Townsend Award for Fiction, is a New York Public Library, a NPR Code Switch 2019 Summer Read Pick and People’s Magazine pick. Her debut novel, An Isolated Incident, was a finalist for the Townsend Award for Fiction and the KLF French Fiction Prize. Soniah’s TEDx talk is about second chances and ‘We are the Ink’, her address at a U.S. Citizenship Oath Ceremony, talks about immigrants and the real American Dreams. Soniah’s
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Patrice Kindl
Childhood:
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I was born in Alplaus New York in 1951, the youngest of four daughters. My father is a mechanical engineer, my mother a housewife. My family is very nice – I like them all a lot. As a child I loved animals and read obsessively.
We had (still have) a family cottage on Lake George. The people who live next door are life-long friends. On summer weekdays during my childhood there were ten females in the two houses, no males. As a result of this background I feel that I understand girls better than boys, which is why I write primarily for girls.
Education and other jobs:
After high school I went to Webster College in St. Louis, Missouri. Oddly enough, given the location, it was a well-thought-of theater school. I attended for a year and a -
Christina Hammonds Reed
Christina Hammonds Reed holds an MFA in Film and Television Production from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Her short fiction has previously appeared in the Santa Monica Review. She lives in Hermosa Beach, CA.
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Kwame Ivery
Kwame Ivery was born in the Bronx and raised in East Orange, New Jersey. He received a BA in psychology from Princeton University and an MFA in dramatic writing from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He's had a screenplay optioned by Hollywood storyboard artist Karl Shefelman (The Silence of the Lambs, Confessions of a Shopaholic) and a short story in the ezine Smashed Cat. He's a proud high school English teacher with 100-plus teenage students who, on a daily basis, teach him just as many things as he teaches them.
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Marc J. Gregson
Marc J Gregson is a New York Times bestselling author. He attended the University of Utah, where he received his bachelor of arts in English teaching. Marc’s pursuit of learning has led him into the classroom, where he teaches middle school English. He believes in the power of words and that stories can unite people from all origins. Above the Black is his first fantasy trilogy for teens.
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Julius Lester
Julius Lester was an American writer of books for children and adults. He was an academic who taught for 32 years (1971–2003) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He was also a photographer, as well as a musician who recorded two albums of folk music and original songs.
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Angharad Walker
Angharad grew up on various military bases in the UK, Germany and Cyprus, where stories were often being told about far-flung places, past conflicts, and friends and family. She studied English Literature & Creative Writing at the University of Warwick and University of California Irvine. She now lives in London.
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Manjeet Mann
Manjeet is an actress, playwright, screenwriter and director. She is the founder of Run The World - an organization that works with women and girls from marginalized backgrounds and helps to empower them through sport and storytelling. She lives in Kent.
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Mariama J. Lockington
Mariama J. Lockington is an adoptee, author, and educator. She has been telling stories and making her own books since the second grade, when she wore shortalls and flower leggings every day to school. Mariama’s middle-grade debut, For Black Girls Like Me, earned five starred reviews and was a Today Show Best Kids’ Book of 2019. Her sophomore middle-grade book, In The Key of Us, is a Stonewall Honor Award book and was featured in the New York Times. Her debut young adult novel, Forever is Now, is the 2024 winner of the Schneider Family Book Award. Mariama holds a Masters in Education from Lesley University and a Masters in Fine Arts in Poetry from San Francisco State University, she calls many places home, but currently lives in Kentucky wi
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Wes Moore
Westley Watende Omari Moore (born October 15, 1978) is an American politician, investment banker, author, television producer, and nonprofit executive serving as the 63rd governor of Maryland since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the first Black governor of the state, the third Black person elected as governor of any U.S. state, and as of 2023, the only incumbent black governor of any U.S. state.
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Born in Maryland and raised largely in New York, Moore graduated from Johns Hopkins University and received a master's degree from Wolfson College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. After several years in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve, Moore became an investment banker in New York. Between 2010 and 2015, Moore published five books, includin -
Candice Iloh
Candice Iloh is a first generation Nigerian-American writer, teaching artist, and youth educator. She is a graduate of Howard University and holds an MFA in writing from Lesley University. Her work has earned fellowships from Lambda Literary and VONA among many others. Her debut novel, Every Body Looking, was a finalist for the National Book Award.
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R. Eric Thomas
R. Eric Thomas (he/him) is a national bestselling author, playwright, and screenwriter. His books include, Here for It, or How to Save Your Soul in America, which was featured as a Read with Jenna pick on NBC's Today, Reclaiming Her Time: The Power of Maxine Waters, co-authored with Helena Andrews-Dyer, the YA novel Kings of B’more, a 2023 American Library Association Stonewall Honor book, and the essay collection Congratulations, the Best Is Over!
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For his playwriting, Eric has won the Barrymore Award for Best New Play, the Dramatist Guild Lanford Wilson Award, the Lambda Literary Award, and was a finalist for the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award. On screen, he wrote for the Peabody Award-winning series Dickinson on AppleTV+ and Better Things -
Laila Sabreen
Laila Sabreen is a young adult contemporary writer who was raised in the Washington DC area. She is a recent graduate of Emory University and is currently pursuing her PhD in English Literature.
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Her love of writing began as a love of reading, which started when she used to take weekly trips to her local library. There she fell in love with the Angelina Ballerina series, so much so that she started to write Angelina Ballerina fanfiction at the age of five (though she did not know it was fanfiction at the time). When she isn’t writing, she can be found creating niche playlists, watching reality TV, or working on an academic article about literature and Black girlhood.
Her debut YA contemporary novel, YOU TRULY ASSUMED, released with Inkyard Pre -
C.C. Alma
Hello to anyone in the universe who might be reading my bio! I was born in San Francisco, California, an American city on a small blue planet on the edge of the Milky Way. My people came to the United States from the Philippines, who came to the Philippines from China and Spain — before that, it's a complicated mystery with too many ancestors involved.
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Like most people, I must work to eat. I am an assistant at a foundation. I write fiction in my spare time because my life dream is to tell stories that entertain and inspire others. I see lots of weird, wacky, and wonderful things going on in all our lives — and I want to do what I can, with whatever talent I have, to explore these in story form.
I am the author of the novel The Earth Girl and -
Janelle Monáe
Janelle Monáe Robinson is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and actress. She is signed to Atlantic Records, as well as to her own imprint, the Wondaland Arts Society. Monáe has received eight Grammy Award nominations. Monáe won an MTV Video Music Award and the ASCAP Vanguard Award in 2010.
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Kip Wilson
Kip Wilson is the critically acclaimed YA author of verse novels White Rose (Versify, 2019), The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin (Versify, 2022), and One Last Shot (Versify, 2023). Awards for her books include the Malka Penn Award and the Julia Ward Howe Award, and her books have been named a Massachusetts Book Honor title, an Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award finalist, and a Los Angeles Times Book Award finalist. Her next project, All the Love Under the Vast Sky, is a YA anthology of stories in verse (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2025). Kip holds a Ph.D. in German Literature and is an enthusiastic high school library worker. Find her online at kipwilsonwrites.com and on Instagram @kipwilsonwrites.
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Kelly Loy Gilbert
Kelly Loy Gilbert is the author of CONVICTION and PICTURE US IN THE LIGHT (Disney-Hyperion, spring 2018). She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Li Charmaine Anne
Asian diaspora writer in the Pacific Northwest. Author of Crash Landing.
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Tessa McWatt
Guyanese-born Canadian writer Tessa McWatt is the author of six novels and two books for young people. Her fiction has been nominated for the Governor General’s Award, the City of Toronto Book Awards, and the OCM Bocas Prize. She is one of the winners of the Eccles British Library Award 2018, for her memoir: Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging. She is also a librettist, and works on interdisciplinary projects and community-based life writing through CityLife: Stories Against Loneliness. She teaches Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia.
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Viola Canales
Viola Canales (b. April 21, 1957)) is an American writer originally from McAllen, Texas. She has published a short story collection, Orange Candy Slices and Other Secret Tales (2001), and a novel, The Tequila Worm (2005), for which she won the Pura Belpré Award in 2006.
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Canales attended St. Stephen's Episcopal School in Austin, Harvard College, and Harvard Law School. She has been a captain in the US Army, a litigator, and an official in the Clinton Administration. -
Lisa DeSelm
Thanks to a steady childhood diet of fairytales, Lisa still dreams of running away to the woods to live amongst the fairy folk in her own enchanted bower. Until then, she happily lives with her husband and two daughters in the wilds of suburban South Bend, Indiana. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her working as an art director and designer, most likely daydreaming with a cup of tea in hand.
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Jennifer Baker
Jennifer Baker is a publishing professional, creator/host of the Minorities in Publishing podcast, and faculty for Bay Path University's low-res MFA in Nonfiction. Jennifer is the editor of the short story anthology EVERYDAY PEOPLE: THE COLOR OF LIFE (Atria Books, 2018) and the author of the YA novel FORGIVE ME NOT (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2023).
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In 2017, she was awarded a NYSCA/NYFA Fellowship & Queens Council on the Arts New Work Grant (as well as their award for Artistic Excellence) for Nonfiction Literature. Her writing has appeared in Newtown Literary (for which her short story "The Pursuit of Happiness" was nominated for a 2017 Pushcart Prize). She was previously a contributing editor to Electric Literature and has written for print and -
Hayley Chewins
Hayley Chewins is an award-winning author of middle grade fantasy and a published poet. Her debut novel, THE TURNAWAY GIRLS (Candlewick, 2018), received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, and was named a Kirkus Best Book of 2018 as well as a 2019 Amelia Bloomer List pick. Her second novel, THE SISTERS OF STRAYGARDEN PLACE (Candlewick, 2020), also received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus, and was chosen as the 2020 Foreword Indies Gold Winner for Juvenile Fiction and an Amazon Best Book of the Month. Hayley is also the author of LOKI: SEASON ONE NOVEL (Marvel Press, 2023), a middle grade novelization of Marvel's LOKI television show, starring Tom Hiddleston. Her YA debut, I AM THE SWARM, is forthcoming from
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Kelsey B. Toney
USA Today bestselling author Kelsey B. Toney writes humorous, heartfelt stories about the hope that exists after our most laughably bad decisions. In past lives, Kelsey has been a teacher, recording artist, and actress—always in pursuit of connection through art and empathy. Learn more at kelseybtoney.com, on her podcast, or in her newsletter.
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Carrie Ann DiRisio
Carrie Ann DiRisio is a YA writer and creator of @BroodingYAHero. She lives in Pittsburgh, PA with one large fluffy cat, and is currently pursuing her masters in Digital Marketing, although her true dream is to become a Disney Villainess, complete with a really snazzy gown.
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In addition to writing and plans for world domination, she also enjoys running, coffee, Krav Maga, and knitting. -
Nabila Adani
Nabila Adani worked briefly as a product designer in Japan and Indonesia before moving to the United States to study children’s book illustration. Among the children’s books she has illustrated are Be a Bridge by Irene Latham and Charles Waters and Sunny and the Birds by Wendy Meddour. Nabila Adani lives in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she enjoys illustrating and telling stories for children around the world.
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Brendan Kiely
Brendan Kiely received an MFA in creative writing from The City College of New York. His writing has appeared in Fiction, Guernica, The AWP Writer’s Chronicle, and other publications. Originally from the Boston area, he now teaches at an independent high school and lives with his wife in Greenwich Village.
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Leah DeCesare
Leah DeCesare is a TEDx speaker and the award-winning author of Forks, Knives, and Spoons and the Naked Parenting series. Her writing has been featured in The New York Times and HuffPost, among others. Leah has taught writing at several universities and Boston’s Grub Street. She earned her Master of Fine Arts at The Newport MFA, co-founded the nonprofit, Doulas of Rhode Island, and led fundraising efforts to build a medical center in Uganda. leahdecesare.com
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Ladee Hubbard
Ladee Hubbard was born in Massachusetts, raised in Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands and currently lives in New Orleans with her husband and three children. She received a B.A. from Princeton University, a Ph.D. from the University of California-Los Angeles, and an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has published short fiction in the Beloit Fiction Journal and Crab Orchard Review among other publications and has received fellowships from the Hambidge Center, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts and the Hurston/Wright Foundation. She is a recipient of a 2016 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award.
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Marie Marquardt
Marie Marquardt is author of YA novels Does My Body Offend You? (with Mayra Cuevas), Dream Things True, The Radius of Us, and Flight Season. Her books have earned many awards and commendations, including BEA Buzz Books, Books all Young Georgians Should Read, and the CLASP Américas Commendation, and they have been shortlisted for several state book awards, including the South Carolina Young Adult Book Award and the Missouri Gateway Readers Award. Marie also has published articles and co-authored two non-fiction books about Latin American immigration to the U.S. South, and has been interviewed about her research, writing, and advocacy on National Public Radio, Public Radio International, and BBC America, among many other media outlets. She li
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Caitie McKay
Caitie McKay is a writer and children’s book editor from Buffalo, New York. She graduated with a degree in creative writing from Canisius College, where she was awarded the G.E. Murray Award for Excellence in Creative Writing. She’s written and edited more than 500 educational books for children. This is her first novel. For more information, visit caitiemcwritesalot.com.
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Sigrid Agnethe Hansen
Sigrid Agnethe Hansen (f. 1989) er programleiar og produsent i NRK Troms. Ho debuterte med boka Ser du dette? i 2020. I 2023 fekk Hansen Blixprisen for den andre boka hennar, Du veit ingenting.
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