autumn allen, author of ALL YOU HAVE TO DO and step on board

As a senior editor at Barefoot Books, Autumn Allen acquires, edits and art directs picture books and board books. Autumn’s debut young adult novel, All You Have to Do, due out from Kokila in fall, 2023, follows two young Black men at prestigious, historically white schools trying to connect with movements for Black liberation in 1968 and 1995. Her debut picture book, Step on Board, illustrated by Ekua Holmes, is due out from Knopf in 2025. Autumn teaches children’s literature at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and consults on using diverse books to discuss race and justice with children.

www.autumnallenbooks.com
twitter: @AutumnAAllen
instagram: @autumnallenbooks

Kenzie allen, poet and professor in indigenous literatures and creative writing

Kenzie Allen is a Haudenosaunee poet and multimodal artist; she is a first-generation descendant of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. Kenzie is the recipient of a 92NY "Discovery" Prize, the James Welch Prize for Indigenous Poets, the 49th Parallel Award in Poetry, and her manuscript, Cloud Missives, was a finalist for the National Poetry Series in 2022. Her work can be found in POETRY, Narrative magazine, The Paris Review's The Daily, Poets.org, Best New Poets and other venues. Born in West Texas, she is currently an Assistant Professor in Indigenous Literatures and Creative Writing at York University in Toronto.

http://kenzieallen.co
Twitter & Instagram: @cerena

Fatimah Asghar, author of IF THEY COME FOR US

Fatimah Asghar is a writer and filmmaker. In 2011 they created a spoken word poetry group in Bosnia and Herzegovina while on a Fulbright studying theater in post-genocidal countries. They are the writer and co-creator of Brown Girls, an Emmy-Nominated web series. A Ruth Lily and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellow, they were also featured on the 2017 Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list. They are the author of If They Come For Us (One World, 2018). They are the co-editor of Halal If You Hear Me, an anthology that celebrates Muslim writers who are also women, queer, gender nonconforming and/or trans.

www.fatimahasghar.com
Twitter & Instagram: @asgharthegrouch

Jaha Nailah Avery, author of THOSE WHO SAW THE SUN

Jaha Nailah Avery is an African American woman and proud Southerner. Hailing from Asheville, North Carolina, she received her law degree from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied constitutional law. She spent time in the startup tech space before embarking on her professional writing career, and her work can be found in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Architectural Digest. She's a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and a Diamond Life member of the NAACP. Her aim is to always celebrate and preserve the stories of Black people, culture, and history.

lorraine avila, author of The Making of Yolanda La Bruja

Lorraine Avila (she/they) is a storyteller and educator from the Bronx with Caribbean roots. Her mission is to continue to rupture traditions of silence. She is the author of Malcriada and Other Stories, Celestial Summer, and The Making of Yolanda La Bruja (forthcoming Spring 2023 from Levine Querido).

Avila has a BA in English from Fordham University, an MAT in Teaching from NYU, & an MFA in fiction from the University of Pittsburgh.

Lorraineavila.com
Twitter: @lorraineavila_
Instagram: @lorraineavila_

Kalynn Bayron, author of you’re not supposed to die tonight & cinderella is dead

Kalynn Bayron is the New York Times and Indie bestselling author of the YA fantasy novels Cinderella Is Dead and This Poison Heart. Her latest works include the YA fantasy This Wicked Fate and the middle grade paranormal adventure The Vanquishers. She is a CILIP Carnegie Medal Nominee, a three-time CYBILS Award nominee, a LOCUS Award finalist, and the recipient of the 2022 Randall Kenan Award for Black LGBTQ fiction. She is a classically trained vocalist and musical theater enthusiast. When she's not writing you can find her watching scary movies and spending time with her family.

www.KalynnBayron.com
Twitter, Instagram, & Hive: @KalynnBayron

lynnor bontigao, AUTHOR | Illustrator OF SAri-sari summers

Lynnor Bontigao stapled her first illustrated story at the age of 10 in the Philippines. She is the author-illustrator of SARI-SARI SUMMERS, her debut picture book with Candlewick Press. She is also the illustrator of THE WORLD'S BEST CLASS PLANT written by award-winning authors Liz Garton Scanlon & Audrey Vernick, as well as YOU ARE REVOLUTIONARY by Cindy Wang Brandt of the popular podcast, Parenting Forward. Lynnor is a Kweli Sing the Truth! mentee. She was mentored by Abhi Alwar, an illustrator and designer based in New York City. Lynnor Bontigao lives in Roselle Park, NJ with her family and 1 tiny dog.

www.lynnorbontigao.com
Twitter: @lynnorbontigao
Instagram: @lbontigao
Facebook: lynnorbontigaoillustrator

Angeline Boulley, Author of firekeeper’s daughter & Warrior girl unearthed

Angeline Boulley (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians) is a storyteller who writes about her Ojibwe community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Her debut novel, Firekeeper’s Daughter, was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller, received both the Printz and Morris awards from the American Library Association. A Reese’s YA Book Club selection, it is being adapted for a Netflix series by the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions. Her follow-up novel, Warrior Girl Unearthed, will be available in May. Angeline lives in southwest Michigan but her heart will always be on Sugar Island.

www.angelineboulley.com
Twitter: @fineangeline
Instagram & TikTok: @angelineboulley

Natasha Bowen, Author of Skin of the Sea & soul of the deep

Natasha Bowen is a writer, a teacher, and a mother of three children. She is of Nigerian and Welsh descent and lives in Cambridge, England, where she grew up. Natasha studied English and creative writing at Bath Spa University before moving to East London, where she taught for nearly ten years. Her debut book Skin of the Sea was inspired by her passion for mermaids and African history. She is obsessed with Japanese and German stationery and spends stupid amounts on notebooks, which she then features on her secret Instagram. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, watched over carefully by Milk and Honey, her cat and dog.

Rosemary Brosnan, Vice President and Publisher, Quill Tree Books/Heartdrum, Imprints of HarperCollins Children's Books

Rosemary Brosnan is publisher of the Quill Tree Books and Heartdrum imprints at HarperCollins Children’s Books. Throughout her career, she has been committed to publishing diverse voices. Authors and illustrators Brosnan has worked with under the Heartdrum imprint include Christine Day (Upper Skagit), Jen Ferguson (Métis) Dawn Quigley (Ojibwe), Kim Rogers (Wichita), Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee and Author-Curator of Heartdrum), and debut author Brian Young (Diné). Other authors Brosnan has published include Elizabeth Acevedo, Kwame Alexander, Ernesto Cisneros, Dhonielle Clayton (and the team that wrote Blackout and Whiteout), Pat Cummings, Saadia Faruqi, Neil Gaiman, Nadia Hashimi, Walter Dean Myers, Neal Shusterman, Lisa Stringfellow, and Rita Williams-Garcia.

diversebooks.org/programs/heartdrum/
Twitter: @RosemaryHB

roseanne a. brown, Author of a song of wraiths and ruin & Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting

Roseanne A. Brown is an immigrant from the West African nation of Ghana and a graduate of the University of Maryland, where she completed the Jimenez-Porter Writers’ House program. Her debut novel A Song of Wraiths and Ruin was an instant New York Times Bestseller, an Indie Bestseller, and received six starred reviews. Her newest novel, Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting, came out Fall 2022 with Rick Riordan Presents.​ She has worked with Marvel, Star Wars, and Disney among other publishers. You can visit her online at roseanneabrown.com or on Instagram or Twitter at @rosiesrambles.

www.roseanneabrown.com
Twitter & Instagram: @rosiesrambles

fauzia burke, Author of Online Marketing for Busy Authors

Fauzia Burke, author of Online Marketing for Busy Authors, is the founder and president of FSB Associates, an online book publicity firm, co-founder of Pub Site, a platform for building author websites, and a consultant and coach for authors who need help navigating the book marketing and publicity landscape. Before starting FSB, she worked for Henry Holt and John Wiley. Fauzia has promoted books by authors such as Alan Alda, Arianna Huffington, Deepak Chopra, Melissa Francis, S. C. Gwynne, Mika Brzezinski, Charles Spencer and many more. She is based in San Diego, CA. For online publicity, book publishing and social media advice, follow Fauzia on Twitter (@FauziaBurke) and on Facebook (Fauzia S. Burke). More information can be found at www.FauziaBurke.com

COZBI a. CABRERA, Author / illustrator of ME & MAMA & Illustrator of Chef Edna: Queen of Southern Cooking, Edna Lewis

Cozbi A. Cabrera is the author/illustrator of Me & Mama (2021 Coretta Scott King Honor/Caldecott Honor) and My Hair is A Garden deemed by Kirkus as “how needed, how refreshing.” She is also the illustrator of Chef Edna: Queen of Southern Cooking, Edna Lewis by Melvina Noel. Her star reviewed illustrated titles include Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks by Suzanne Slade (2021 ALA Sibert Informational Award Honor/Coretta Scott King Honor), Most Loved In All The World by Tonya Cherie Hegamin, Stitchin’ and Pullin’ A Gees Bend Quilt by Patricia McKissack, Thanks A Million by Nikki Grimes. Cozbi has been a contributing illustrator for various titles including Our Children Can Soar by Michelle Cook (NAACP Image Award). Cozbi lives in Evanston, Illinois with her husband and daughter.

www.cozbi.com
Instagram: @cozbi
Twitter: @cozbihandmade
Facebook: CozbiBooks

Antonio Gonzalez Cerna, Marketing director at levine querido

Antonio Gonzalez Cerna is the Marketing Director at Levine Querido. He has 18 years experience developing marketing, advertising, and social media strategies for adult and children’s book publishers such as Hachette Book Group, Penguin Books USA, and Scholastic, as well as for non-profit institutions including the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Lambda Literary Foundation. An advocate for diversity, inclusion, and equality, he has proudly served on the Children’s Book Council Diversity Committee, Lambda Literary Awards Host Committee, and is a founding member of Latinx in Publishing.

nidhi chanani, author | Illustrator of shark Princess AND Super Boba Café

Nidhi Chanani was born in Kolkata, India and raised in California. She holds a degree in literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She creates illustrations that capture love in everyday moments. In 2012 she was honored by the Obama Administration as a Champion of Change. She’s the author of the graphic novels Pashmina (2017), Jukebox (2021), Shark Princess (2022) and the picture book What will my story be? She’s illustrated a number of picture books including I will be fierce, Strong and Binny’s Diwali. Nidhi draws in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and kid.

everydayloveart.com
Instagram: @nidhiart

Johnnie Christmas, author | Illustrator of swim team AND illustrator of ANGEL CATBIRD

Johnnie Christmas is a #1 New York Times Best Selling graphic novelist. His 2022 middle grade graphic novel debut SWIM TEAM earned a spot on the National Book Awards longlist and a Harvey Awards nomination. He’s currently hard at work on two new middle-grade graphic novels for the HarperAlley imprint of HarperCollins. Writer of the Image Comics sci-fi series TARTARUS and CREMA, a haunted romance published by Comixology. His book FIREBUG received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly and it earned him a Joe Shuster Outstanding Cartoonist nomination. He’s perhaps best known for co-creating the series ANGEL CATBIRD with celebrated writer Margaret Atwood and adapting William Gibson’s lost screenplay for ALIEN 3 into a critically acclaimed graphic novel of the same name. His credits also include co-creating the pre-apocalyptic thriller SHELTERED. A graduate of the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, earning a BFA in Communication Design/Illustration. Johnnie makes Vancouver, BC his home.

johnniechristmas.com
Twitter: @j_xmas
Instagram: @johnniexmas

Edwidge Danticat, author of mommy medicine and behind the mountain

Edwidge Danticat is the author of several books, including Breath, Eyes, Memory, The Farming of Bones, and the novels-in-stories, The Dew Breaker, Claire of the Sea Light, as well as Brother, I'm Dying, a National Book Award finalist and National Books Critics Circle winner for autobiography. She is also the editor of The Butterfly’s Way: Voices from the Haitian Dyaspora in the United States, Haiti Noir, and Haiti Noir 2. She has written seven books for young adults and children, as well as a travel narrative, After the Dance, A Walk Through Carnival in Jacmel, and a collection of essays, Create Dangerously. She is a 2009 MacArthur Fellow, and a 2020 winner of the Vilceck Prize. Her most recent book, Everything Inside: Stories, is a winner of the The Story Prize, and the National Books Critics Circle Fiction Prize.

safia elhillo, author of bright red fruit and home is not a country

Safia Elhillo is the author of The January Children (University of Nebraska Press, 2017), which received the the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets and an Arab American Book Award, Girls That Never Die (One World/Random House 2022), and the novel in verse Home Is Not A Country (Make Me A World/Random House, 2021) and Bright Red Fruit (Make Me A World/Random House, 2023). With Fatimah Asghar, she is co-editor of the anthology Halal If You Hear Me (Haymarket Books, 2019). She is currently a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University and lives in Oakland.

https://safia-mafia.com/bio

Twitter: @mafiasafia
Instagram: @safiamafia

Federico erebia, author of pedro & daniel

Federico Erebia is a retired physician, woodworker, author, and illustrator. He was born in Port Clinton, Ohio. He received a BA in chemistry from the College of Wooster, and an MD from Brown University. His debut novel, Pedro & Daniel, will be published by Levine Querido on June 6, 2023. His Pepito The Squirrel picture books were self-published in 2021.

camryn garrett, author of friday i’m in love and off the record

Camryn Garrett was born and raised in New York. In 2019, she was named one of Teen Vogue’s 21 Under 21 and a Glamour College Woman of the Year. Her first novel, Full Disclosure, received rave reviews from outlets such as Entertainment Weekly, the Today Show, and The Guardian, which called a “warm, funny and thoughtfully sex-positive, an impressive debut from a writer still in her teens.” Her second novel, Off the Record received three starred reviews. Her third novel, Friday I’m in Love, was an IndieNext Pick and received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly. Camryn is also interested in film and recently graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. You can find her on Twitter @dancingofpens, tweeting from a laptop named Stevie.

camryngarrett.com
Twitter: @dancingofpens
Instagram: @camryngwrites

Michaela Goade, author | illustrator of berry song & illustrator of remember and We are water protectors

Michaela Goade is a Caldecott Medalist and #1 New York Times bestselling artist of books for children. She is the illustrator of a number of award-winning and bestselling books including We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom, I Sang You Down from the Stars by Tasha Spillett-Sumner, and her first self-authored book, Berry Song. Michaela's latest book, Remember written by Joy Harjo, was recently released in March 2023. Michaela is an enrolled member of the Tlingit Nation and grew up on her ancestral homelands along the southeast coast of Alaska, where she lives today on an island at the edge of a wide, wild sea.

www.michaelagoade.com
Twitter: @MichaelaGoade
Instagram: @michaelagoade

Wendi gu, Agent, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates / GreenburgerKids

Wendi Gu is a children's book literary agent at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. She's lucky to represent voice-driven authors and dynamic visual artists. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and dog, Beanie Gu.

www.greenburger.com/agent/wendi-gu

Arely Guzmán, Assistant Editor at Levine Querido

Arely Guzmán is an Assistant Editor at Levine Querido. Previously, they were an editorial assistant at Knopf Books for Young Readers, and an editorial intern at Bloomsbury, Writers House, and Kweli Journal. They’re looking for middle grade and young adult books that will reverberate with the in-between communities, and fantastic stories for children who never saw themselves as protagonists. On their spare time, Arely can be found watching little gay cartoons, killing all their plants, and advocating that therapy should be accessible and inclusive.

Leah henderson, author of The Courage of the Little Hummingbird and Daddy speaks Love

Leah Henderson is the author of many books for young readers including The Magic in Changing Your Stars, A Day for Rememberin’, Daddy Speaks Love, Together We March and the forthcoming picture book The Courage of the Little Hummingbird. When she isn’t creating stories, she is out in the world exploring, in search of them. Leah holds an MFA in Writing and is on faculty in Spalding University's graduate writing program.

leahhendersonbooks.com
Twitter: @LeahsMark
Instagram: @Leahs_Mark

Donna Barba Higuera, Author of the last cuentista and lupe wong won’t dance

Donna Barba Higuera's Middle Grade and Picture books reinvent history, folklore, and or her own life experience into compelling storylines. She lives in Washington State with her husband, four kids, three dogs and a frog.

Her books include Lupe Wong Won't Dance, El Cucuy Is Scared, Too!, The Last Cuentista, and The Yellow Handkerchief, and have won awards including: the Newbery medal, both Pura Belpré medal and honor, PNBA best book of the year award, and the Sid Fleischman award for best children's humor book of the year.

www.dbhiguera.com
Twitter: @dbhiguera
Instagram: @donnabarbahiguera

BRandon Hobson, author of the storyteller and the removed

Brandon Hobson is the author of four books for adults, including the acclaimed novel The Removed and the National Book Award finalist Where the Dead Sit Talking. The Storyteller is his debut novel for teens, “a kaleidoscopic middle-grade adventure that mixes the anxieties, friendships, and wonders of a Cherokee boy's life with Cherokee history and lore.”

In 2022 Hobson was chosen as a Guggenheim fellow. He teaches creative writing at New Mexico State University and at the Institute of American Indian Arts and is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation Tribe of Oklahoma. Dr. Hobson lives in New Mexico with his wife and two kids.

NASUGRAQ RAINEY HOPSON, AUTHOR OF EAGLE DRUMS

Born and raised in the rural expanse of the North Slope of Alaska, Nasugraq Rainey Hopson grew up on fantastic tales from her unique and rich Indigenous Inupiaq culture. When she is not writing or creating art inspired by these stories, she is studying how to grow food in the arctic and is working at preserving traditional Inupiaq knowledge. She has a degree in Studio Art and has taught all levels of Art from kindergarten to college level. She lives in Anaktuvuk Pass Alaska with her husband and daughters, three dogs, and a small flock of arctic chickens where she lives off the land and the amazing bounty it provides like her ancestors did for thousands of years.

www.nasugraqhopson.com

Amalie Howard, author of Queen Bee

AMALIE HOWARD is a USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling novelist. Always Be My Duchess was one of Cosmopolitan Magazine’s’s 30 Best Romance Books of 2022 and The Beast of Beswick was one of Oprah Daily’s 24 Best Historical Romance Novels to Read. She is also the author of several critically acclaimed, award-winning young adult novels. Kirkus Reviews called her forthcoming Queen Bee “A satisfyingly delightful tale of deception, retribution, and romance.” A Caribbean-born AAPI writer, her books have been featured in The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, and Seventeen Magazine. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found reading, being the president of her one-woman Harley Davidson motorcycle club, or power-napping. She lives in Colorado with her family.

www.amaliehoward.com
Twitter, Instagram, & Pinterest: @amaliehoward
Facebook & Tik Tok: @amaliehowardauthor

JOHN JENNINGS, illustrator of kindred, a graphic novel adaptation

John Jennings is a professor, author, graphic novelist, curator, Harvard Fellow, New York Times Bestseller, 2018 Eisner Winner, and all-around champion of Black culture.

As Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of California at Riverside (UCR), Jennings examines the visual culture of race in various media forms including film, illustrated fiction, and comics and graphic novels. He is also the director of Abrams ComicArts imprint Megascope, which publishes graphic novels focused on the experiences of people of color. His research interests include the visual culture of Hip Hop, Afrofuturism and politics, Visual Literacy, Horror, and the EthnoGothic, and Speculative Design and its applications to visual rhetoric.

Jennings is co-founder/organizer of The Schomburg Center’s Black Comic Book Festival in Harlem.

Reem Kassis, author of We Are Palestinian: A Celebration of Culture and Tradition

Reem Kassis is a Palestinian food and culture writer and a 2022 Kweli Fellow. Her work regularly appears in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic in addition to various newspapers, magazines and academic journals. She is also the author of the award-winning cookbooks The Palestinian Table (2017) and The Arabesque Table (2021). She grew up in Jerusalem, then obtained her undergraduate and MBA degrees from UPenn and Wharton and her MSc in social psychology from the London School of Economics. She now lives in Philadelphia with her husband and three daughters. “We Are Palestinian” is her first children's book.

www.reemkassis.com
Social media:@reem.kassis

dr. ibram x. kendi, author of how to be a (young) antiracist; adaptation of the making of butterflies by zora neale hurston

DR. IBRAM X. KENDI is a National Book Award-winning author of thirteen books for adults and children, including nine New York Times bestsellers—five of which were #1 New York Times bestsellers. Dr. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, and the director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a CBS News racial justice contributor.

ibramxkendi.com
Twitter: @DrIbram
Instagram: @Ibramxk

Aya Khalil, author of the night before eid and Our World: Egypt

Aya Khalil is the award-winning author of The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story, which is an NCTE’s Charlotte Huck Award Recommended Book and the winner of the Arab American Book Award, among other honors. She's also the author of Our World: Egypt, The Night Before Eid and The Great Banned Books Bake Sale. Aya holds a master’s degree in education and is a Highlights Muslim Storytellers fellow and co-founder of Kidlit in Color. She immigrated from Egypt to the United States when she was young and currently lives with her partner and three children in Northwest Ohio. Visit her online at: ayakhalil.com

www.ayakhalil.com
Twitter: @ayawrites
Instagram: @ayakhalilauthor

cheryl klein, editorial director, algonquin young readers

Cheryl Klein is the editorial director at Algonquin Young Readers, an imprint of Workman Publishing / Hachette Book Group, where she oversees books for all ages. She formerly served as editorial director at Lee & Low Books & Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, where her titles included Speculation by Nisi Shawl, When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff & Kaylani Juanita, & Front Desk by Kelly Yang. Cheryl is also the author of The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults and four picture books, most recently Hamsters Make Terrible Roommates, illustrated by Abhi Alwar.

Cherylklein.com
Twitter & Instagram: @chavelaque

emeline lee, Author of bonnie’s rocket

Emeline Lee is an author of children's literature. Her debut picture book, Bonnie's Rocket, illustrated by Alina Chau and published by Lee & Low, is a STEM-friendly story set during Apollo 11. She studied English literature and environmental sustainability at Columbia University and now works in the renewable energy sector in New York City. Find her on the web at emelinelee.com and follow her on social media at @EmelineLeeBooks.

www.emelinelee.com
Social media: @EmelineLeeBooks

Alexandra levick, senior agent at writers house

Alexandra Levick is a senior literary agent at Writers House developing her picture book, middle grade, young adult, and adult lists. Previously, she worked with the agency at large as the Media Rights Manager for film and tv and for several other senior agents. Prior to joining Writers House, she worked as a bookseller and worked on the house side of the publishing business in publicity. She holds an M.S. in Publishing from New York University and a B.A. in English, with a concentration in Creative Writing from the University of Rochester.

alexandralevick.com
Twitter & Instagram: @allielevick

arthur A. levine, President and Editor-in-Chief at levine querido

Arthur A. Levine Is the founder of Levine Querido, an independent publisher dedicated to finding and publishing brilliantly illustrated and written books from a diverse spectrum of creators across the U.S. and around the world including Newbery Medalist Donna Barba Higuera, Printz medalist Daniel Nayeri, Printz honor medalist Eric Gansworth, Darcie Little Badger, Shaun Tan, Walter Award winner Andrea Rogers and more. He is proud of a career-long commitment to inclusion and representation, publishing such great writers and illustrators as Lisa Yee, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Andrea Wang, Sacha Lamb, Cat Min, Sundee Frazier, Mari Lowe, Young Vo and many others.

www.levinequerido.com
Twitter: @arthuralevine1

alvina ling, VP, Editor-in-Chief at Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Alvina Ling is VP and Editor-in-Chief at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers where she has worked since 1999. She edits children's books for all ages, including A Big Mooncake for Little Star and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, Dave the Potter by Laban Carrick Hill and illustrated by Bryan Collier, The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer, The Wild Robot by Peter Brown, Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes, Troublemaker by John Cho, The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan, and The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. She co-hosts the podcast Book Friends Forever with author Grace Lin and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two cats.

www.bookfriendsforever.com
Twitter: @planetalvina
Instagram: @alvinaling

Malinda lo, author of last night at the telegraph club & a scatter of light

Malinda Lo is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels, including A Scatter of Light (2022). Her novel Last Night at the Telegraph Club won the National Book Award, the Stonewall Book Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, a Printz Honor, and was an LA Times Book Prize finalist. Her books have received 15 starred reviews and have been finalists for multiple awards, including the Andre Norton Award and the Lambda Literary Award. She has been honored by the Carnegie Corporation as a Great Immigrant.

www.malindalo.com
Twitter & Instagram: @malindalo

chelsey luger, author of the seven circles, indigenous teachings for living well

Chelsey Luger is a writer and wellness advocate originally from North Dakota, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and descendant of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. She got her undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College, concentrating on comparative histories of global Indigenous cultures, and later earned an M.S. in Digital Media at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. She is the co-founder of Well For Culture. Her writing has appeared in the Atlantic, Huffington Post, Yes! Magazine, and other outlets.

With warmth and generosity—and 75 atmospheric photographs by Collins throughout—The Seven Circles teaches us how to connect with nature, with our community, and with ourselves, and to integrate ancient Indigenous philosophies of health and well being into our own lives to find healing and balance.

Kwame Mbalia, author of tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the sky,editor of black boy joy

Kwame is a husband, father, writer, a New York Times bestselling author, and a former pharmaceutical metrologist in that order. His debut middle-grade novel, TRISTAN STRONG PUNCHES A HOLE IN THE SKY was awarded a Coretta Scott King Author Honor, and it—along with the sequels TRISTAN STRONG DESTROYS THE WORLD and TRISTAN STRONG KEEPS PUNCHING, out October 5th—is published by Rick Riordan Presents/Disney-Hyperion. He is the co-author of LAST GATE OF THE EMPEROR with Prince Joel Makonnen, from Scholastic Books, and the editor of the #1 New York Times bestselling anthology BLACK BOY JOY, published by Delacourte Press. A Howard University graduate and a Midwesterner now in North Carolina, he survives on Dad jokes and Cheezits.

kwamembalia.com
Social media: @ksekoum

Amber mcbride, author of (Me) Moth and we are all so good at smiling

Amber McBride estimates she reads about 100 books a year. Her work has been published in literary magazines including Ploughshares and Provincetown Arts. Her debut young adult novel, Me (Moth) was a finalist for the National Book Award, and won the 2022 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent, among many other accolades. She is a professor of creative writing at University of Virginia, and lives in Charlottesville, Virgina.

www.amber-mcbride.com
Social media: @ambsmcbride

sydnee monday, Associate Editor at Kokila

Associate Editor Sydnee Monday joined Kokila in May of 2018. Her growing list features children’s lit debuts from Keah Brown, Kiera Wright-Ruiz, Rinny Perkins, and more. Prior to Kokila, they worked at NPR, the PEN/Faulkner Foundation, and Sankofa Bookstore in Washington, D.C. She's a graduate of Howard University.

www.penguin.com/kokila-books-overview
Twitter: @sydneemonday

hannah moushabeck, author of Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine

Hannah Moushabeck is a second-generation Palestinian American author, editor, and marketer who was raised in a family of booksellers and publishers in Western Massachusetts and England. Born in Brooklyn into Interlink Publishing, a family-run independent publishing house, she learned the power of literature at a young age. Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine is her first picture book. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts on the homelands of the Pocumtuc and Nipmuc Nations.

www.hannahmoushabeck.com
Twitter: @hmoushabeck
Instagram & Facebook: @hannahmoushabeck

MARILYN NELSON, AUTHOR OF AUGUSTA SAVAGE: THE SHAPE OF A SCULPTOR’S LIFE

Marilyn Nelson is the author or translator of seventeen poetry books and the memoir How I Discovered Poetry. She is also the author of The Fields Of Praise: New And Selected Poems, which won the 1998 Poets’ Prize, Carver: A Life In Poems, which won the 2001 Boston Globe/Hornbook Award and the Flora Stieglitz Straus Award, and Fortune’s Bones, which was a Coretta Scott King Honor Book and won the Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry. She is also the author of the biography Augusta Savage: The Shape of a Sculptor’s Life (2022). Nelson’s honors include two NEA creative writing fellowships, the 1990 Connecticut Arts Award, a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, a fellowship from the J.S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and the Frost Medal. She was the Poet Laureate of the State of Connecticut from 2001-2006.

Lissette Norman, author of platanos go with everything& my feet are laughing

Lissette J. Norman is the children’s book author of PLATANOS GO WITH EVERYTHING and MY FEET ARE LAUGHING. She is also co-author of the books, ON THE LINE: The First African-American Rockette (w/ Jennifer Jones) and UNTIL SOMEONE LISTENS (w/ Estela Juarez). Lissette was awarded the New York Foundation for the Arts - 2018 Artist Fellowship in Fiction, the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Grant, and the Hedgebrook and Martha’s Vineyard writer’s residencies. She was also an Author-in-Residence for the BookUpNYC program through the National Book Foundation. Lissette received her BA in English at SUNY-Binghamton and currently lives in New York City.

Twitter & Instagram: @lissettejnorman

Linda Sue Park, author of the one thing you’d save and founder and curator of allida books/harpercollins

Linda Sue Park is the founder and curator of Allida Books, a HarperCollins imprint, which seeks to publish books centering the passions and strengths of creators from marginalized communities. She is the author of more than thirty books for young readers, including the Newbery Medal title A Single Shard and the NYTimes bestseller A Long Walk to Water. Park serves on the board of advisors for We Need Diverse Books and the Rabbit Hole children's literature museum project, as well as maintaining the kiBooka.com website for Korean diaspora creators.

www.lindasuepark.com
Twitter: @LindaSuePark

Patricia Park, AUTHOR OF imposter syndrome & other confessions of alejandra kim

Patricia Park, the award-winning author of RE JANE (a retelling of Jane Eyre), makes her young adult debut in IMPOSTER SYNDROME & OTHER CONFESSIONS OF ALEJANDRA KIM, a funny and poignant novel about a multicultural teen from Queens navigating college apps, performative wokeness, identity politics, and grief. Patricia is a professor of creative writing at American University and has written for The New Yorker, New York Times, Guardian, and others. A Queens native, she lives in Brooklyn.

www.patriciapark.com
Twitter, Instagram, & TikTok: @patriciapark718

Brianna Peppins, author of as long as we’re together & briarcliff prep

Brianna Peppins is the author of young adult contemporary books, including Briarcliff Prep and As Long as We're Together. She was raised in PG County, Maryland and graduated from Spelman College with a B.A. in Psychology. When not writing, Brianna takes special interest in spending time with her loved ones, social justice issues and is a self-proclaimed movie aficionado.

https://briannapeppins.com/
Twitter & Instagram: @Lexi_pep
TikTok: @Lexi_pepp

jas perry, literary agent, kt literary

JAS PERRY is a Literary Agent with KT Literary representing Middle Grade and Young Adult fiction and Graphic Novels for all ages. Jas is Black/Japanese and represents a diverse range of strong voices with a focus on BIPOC, QTPOC, and/or disabled creators. She began in editorial with Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Books and Levine Querido, in addition to freelance editing and authenticity reading for traditional publishing.

She writes children's books as J.P. Takahashi, and her debut TOKYO NIGHT PARADE with Minako Tomigahara is upcoming with HarperCollins on October 10th, 2023.

www.jas-perry.com
Twitter: @TakahashiPerry

Bria Ragin, Editor at Joy Revolution, Random House Children's Books

Bria Ragin is an Editor at Delacorte Press, where she can edit MG and YA fiction. She also edits novels for Joy Revolution, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books that was co-founded by critically acclaimed authors Nicola and David Yoon, which focuses on teen romances written by and about people of color. Her authors include New York Times bestselling author Talia Hibbert, USA Today bestselling author Amalie Howard, and a list of brilliant debuts like Sher Lee, author of the upcoming Fake Dates and Mooncakes. Prior to joining the Delacorte team in 2021, she worked at HarperCollins. She’s always looking to uplift marginalized voices.

Twitter: @BriARag

Quressa Robinson, Literary Agent at Folio Literary Management/Folio Jr.

Quressa Robinson joined Folio Literary Management in 2022 after working at previous agencies, including the Nelson Literary Agency, and as an editor for five years. She is originally from San Francisco, but has been living in New York City for over a decade. As a New York based agent, she is eager to build her MG, YA, and Adult lists. Quressa was also a member of the 2017-2019 WNDB Walter Grant Committee and holds an MFA in Creative Writing: Fiction from Columbia University. In 2020, she was named a Publisher's Weekly Star Watch finalist.

www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/QuressaRobinson/
Twitter: @qnrisawesome
Instagram: @quressa

Andrea L. rogers, AUTHOR OF man made monsters

Andrea L. Rogers is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but currently attends The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville where she is a doctoral student in English. Andrea graduated with an MFA from the Institute for American Indian Arts. Andrea has three wonderful daughters. She taught Art and HS English in public schools for 14 years. Her work for young people includes, essays, picture books, and middle grade stories.

AndreaLRogers.com
Twitter & Instagram: @andrealrogers

Kim rogers, author of just like grandma

Kim Rogers is the author of Just Like Grandma, illustrated by Julie Flett; A Letter for Bob, illustrated by Jonathan Nelson, is planned for summer 2023; and I Am Osage: How Clarence Tinker became the First Native American Major General, illustrated by Bobby Von Martin comes out in winter of 2024, all with Heartdrum. Kim is an enrolled member of Wichita and Affiliated Tribes and a member of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. She lives with her family on her tribe's ancestral homelands in Oklahoma.

www.kimrogerswriter.com
Twitter: @kimrogerswriter

Aida Salazar, AUTHOR OF the moon within & Jovita wore pants: the story of a mexican freedom fighter

Aida Salazar is an award-winning author, arts activist, and translator whose writings explore issues of identity and social justice. She is the author of the critically acclaimed and multiple award-winning middle grade verse novels THE MOON WITHIN and LAND OF THE CRANES and the picture book, IN THE SPIRIT OF A DREAM. Her most recent books include the historical fiction novel, A SEED IN THE SUN; the bio picture book, JOVITA WORE PANTS: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter; and the anthology CALLING THE MOON. She lives with her family of artists in a teal house in Oakland, CA.  

www.AidaSalazar.com
Twitter, Instagram & TikTok: @aida_writes
Facebook: @aidawrites

sheetal sheth, actor and author of making happy and bravo anjali!

Sheetal is an award winning actress, author, producer, and activist. Her first children’s book (set to be a series), Always Anjali was published in May, 2018 to wide acclaim and popularity. The follow up, Bravo Anjali! was published in September, 2021. It was the #1 release on Amazon in two categories. The third is currently in production. Her latest book, Making Happy, was released in Fall, 2022.

https://sheetalsheth.com/sheetal/

lisa stringfellow, author of a comb of wishes

Lisa Stringfellow writes middle grade fiction and has a not-so-secret fondness for fantasy with a dark twist. Her debut fantasy A COMB OF WISHES was selected as an ABA Indie Introduce Kids and Indie Next Kids title, a 2022 Horn Book and Today Read With Jenna Jr. summer reading selection, and a 2022 New England Book Award finalist. Her work often reflects her West Indian and Black southern heritage. Lisa is a middle school teacher and lives in Boston, Massachusetts, with her children and two bossy cats.

http://lisastringfellow.com
@EngageReaders (Twitter and Instagram)

nadine takvorian, AUTHOR and illustrator of armaveni

Nadine Takvorian is a first-generation Armenian-American author/illustrator of children’s books and graphic novels. From within the Armenian diaspora, Nadine’s family is *Bolsahye* — from Istanbul, Turkey. She is passionate about exploring identity and history and battling cultural erasure. She also nourishes a soft spot for fantasy and alternate worlds. Nadine lives with her husband and two children in Berkeley, CA, where they dig holes in their garden and dream of diving into waves at sea. Nadine is currently writing and illustrating her debut YA graphic novel ARMAVENI with Levine Querido, Spring 2025.

www.nadinetakvorian.com
Twitter, Instagram, & TikTok: @nadinetakvorian

j.e. thomas, AUTHOR OF Control freaks

J.E. Thomas spent her early summers stuffing grocery bags with books at the local library, reading feverishly, then repeating the process week after week, so it's not surprising that she thinks books + imagination are the best streaming service around. A Colorado native, she has bachelor degrees in Mass Communications and Political Science, and a master’s degree in Public Communications. Control Freaks, published by Levine Querido, is her first book. She's now beginning work on her debut YA novel. J.E. submitted the first 10 pages of her debut novel to Nick Thomas (no relation), Levine Querido's executive editor, during #KWELI21. The rest is history!

www.jethomasauthor.com
Social media: @jethomasauthor

ari tison, author of SAINTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD

Ari Tison is an award-winning Bribri (Indigenous Costa Rican) American poet, essayist, educator, autoethnographer, and author of YA hybrid novel SAINTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD (2023) + Untitled YA (TBD) with FSG/BFYR. She is also forthcoming in anthologies including Latine YA anthology OUR SHADOWS HAVE CLAWS with Algonquin Young Readers (2022). Her poetry and essays have been published in various literary journals including POETRY's first issue for young people. She has her MFA from Hamline University and teaches creative writing. She lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota. 

traci N. todd, publisher of little bee books and author of Nina: a story of nina simone & Holding her own, the exceptional life of jackie ormes

Traci N. Todd is a longtime children’s book editor and the author of several picture books, including Stacey Abrams and the Fight to Vote, illustrated by Laura Freeman, and the Coretta Scott King Honor-winning Nina: A Story of Nina Simone, illustrated by Christian Robinson. She is passionate about making content that affirms every child, especially Black and brown children of all identities. She lives and works with her partner in Queens, New York.

irene Vázquez, Assistant Editor and Publicist at Levine Querido

Irene Vázquez is a Black Mexican American poet, journalist, and editor, originally from Houston, Texas. Irene's debut chapbook Take Me To the Water was released by Bloof Books in October 2022. Irene is a Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominated writer, whose work can be found in Muzzle, the Oxford American, and the Brooklyn Rail, among others.

www.irenevazquez.com
Twitter: @capaciousmood
Instagram: @irene.rene.ren

gwendolyn maya wallace, author of joy takes root

Gwendolyn Wallace is the author of the forthcoming picture books THE LIGHT SHE FEELS INSIDE illustrated by Olivia Duchess (Sourcebooks, Fall 2023), JOY TAKES ROOT illustrated by Ashleigh Corrin (Kokila, Summer 2023) and also DANCING WITH WATER illustrated by Tonya Engel (Kokila). Gwendolyn is a 2021 Yale graduate and is now a fellow at the International African American Museum in Charleston as well as a graduate student at University College London studying for her masters in public history. She is interested in histories of race and gender, cultures of protest, and environmental violence. Gwendolyn is also on the board of the REACH (Reproductive Equity, Access, & CHoice) Fund, Connecticut's first abortion fund! Gwendolyn can usually be found crafting, exploring used bookstores, or finding any way to follow the radical impulses of young children.

Twitter: @gwendolynw__
Instagram: @g.m.wallace

imani lee williams, actor

Imani is receiving her MFA from FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training in early May. She received the SWFL Regional Award for Best Actress for her role as Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible. The Asolo Reperatory Theater’s 22/23 Season features Imani as Queen Anne in Three Musketeers and Simone in Chicken & Biscuits. Imani is enjoying the Sarasota weather and hopes to bring some of that warmth to the Kweli Color of Children’s Literature Conference. Hello, New York!

https://findimani.com/

Jacqueline Woodson, author of the world belonged to us

Jacqueline Woodson is the recipient of a 2020 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Award, the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and the 2018 Children’s Literature Legacy Award, and she was the 2018–2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Her New York Times bestselling memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming, won the National Book Award, as well as the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor, and the NAACP Image Award. She also wrote the adult books Red at the Bone, a New York Times bestseller, and Another Brooklyn, a 2016 National Book Award finalist. Her dozens of books for young readers include Coretta Scott King Award and NAACP Image Award winner Before the Ever After, New York Times bestsellers The Year We Learned to Fly, The Day You Begin, and Harbor Me, Newbery Honor winners Feathers, Show Way, and After Tupac and D Foster, and the picture book Each Kindness, which won the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award.

phoebe yeh, VP/PRESIDENT, CROWN BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

Phoebe Yeh is the Vice President and co-publisher at Crown Books for Young Readers/Random House. She worked with Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen on The Magic School Bus series and with Walter Dean Myers for twenty years. She has published the New York Times bestsellers, Max & the Midknights (Lincoln Peirce), Dear Justyce and debut novels Dear Martin and Clean Getaway (Nic Stone);Recognize: An Anthology Honoring & Amplifying Black Life edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson; Defiant: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South by Wade Hudson. Middle grade novels include The Swag Is in the Socks (Kelly J. Baptist) and upcoming: The Natural Genius of Ants (Betty Cully). YA novels include Vinyl Moon (Mahogany L. Browne), Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance (Nisha Sharma) and the upcoming Publishers Marketplace YA Buzz Book Finding Jupiter by debut novelist Kelis Rowe. Picture books include The Rise (and Falls) of Jackie Chan (Kristen Mai Giang/Alina Chau) and the upconing Mae Finds a Way: The True Story of Mae Reeves, Hat & History Maker (Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich/Andrea Pippins) in collaboration with NMAAHC/Smithsonian Institution. Yeh is a recipient of the inaugural CBC Diversity Outstanding Achievement Award.

Victoria Ying, author of hungry ghost & Illustrator of Diana and Nubia: Princesses of the Amazons

Victoria Ying is a critically acclaimed author and artist living in Los Angeles. She started her career in the arts by falling in love with comic books, this eventually turned into a career working in animation and graphic novels. She loves Japanese Curry, putting things in her shopping cart online and taking them out again and hanging out with her husband and furry friends. Her film credits include Tangled, Wreck it Ralph, Frozen, Paperman, Big Hero 6, and Moana. She is the author and illustrator of her own series “City of Secrets and City of Illusion” through Penguin/Viking and the illustrator of the DC series “Diana Princess of the Amazons.” Her upcoming graphic novel projects her YA debut, “Hungry Ghost” and the Marvel/Scholastic “Shang-Chi and the Secret of Immortality.”

www.victoriaying.com
Social media: @victoriaying

brian young, author of healer of the water monster & Heroes OF THE WATER MONSTER

My name is Brian Young. I am Red-Running-Into-Red Clan and born for the Tangle People Clan. My maternal grandfather’s clan is Bitter Water. My paternal grandfather’s clan is Bitter Water. I am enrolled with the Navajo Nation and grew up in Fort Defiance, Arizona. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York.

www.brianlyoung.com
Instagram: @byoungwrites
Facebook: @BYoungWritres

IBI ZOBOI, AUTHOR OF STAR CHILD: A BIOGRAPHICAL CONSTELLATION OF OCTAVIA ESTELLE BUTLER & Nigeria Jones

Ibi Zoboi is the New York Times bestselling author of American Street, a National Book Award finalist; Pride; My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich; Star Child; Okoye to the People; the Walter Award–winning Punching the Air, cowritten with Exonerated Five member Yusef Salaam; and the Coretta Scott King Honor–winning picture book The People Remember. She is also the editor of the anthology Black Enough. Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, she now lives in New Jersey with her family. You can find her online at ibizoboi.net.

www.ibizoboi.net
Instagram: @ibizoboi