Authors, Moderators and Library Experts

Mac Barnett, 2025-2026 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, is the ninth writer to hold this position. During his term, Barnett will celebrate the children’s picture book through his platform, “Behold, The Picture Book! Let’s Celebrate Stories We Can Feel, Hear, and See.”

David Baron is a journalist, author, and broadcaster who has spent his thirty-year career largely in public radio. He has worked as an environment correspondent for NPR, a science reporter for Boston’s WBUR, and health and science editor for PRI’s The World. At the Kluge Center, Baron is working on a project examining the “Mars … Continue reading David Baron →

Geraldine Brooks is the author of six novels, including “Horse,” “People of the Book,” “Year of Wonders” and the Pulitzer Prize-winning “March.” She has also written acclaimed works of nonfiction, including “Memorial Days: A Memoir,” “Nine Parts of Desire” and “Foreign Correspondence.” Her books have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold millions of copies around the world.

Joy Harjo served as the 23rd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. The first Native American poet to serve in the position, Harjo is an enrolled member of the Muscogee Creek Nation. She was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 9, 1951, and is the author of nine books of poetry.

Cristina Henríquez was born in Delaware, United States in 1977. She is the author of close to four books, including Come Together, Fall Apart: A Novella and Stories (2006), The Book of Unknown Americans: A Novel (2014) and The Great Divide (2024). In addition to her novels, she has also contributed short stories to periodicals, … Continue reading Cristina Henríquez →

Ada Limón serves as the 24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. Limón was born in Sonoma, California, in 1976 and is of Mexican ancestry. The author of six poetry collections, she lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

Tracy K. Smith was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts, in 1972, and raised in Fairfield, California. She is the author of four books of poetry. She is currently the Roger S. Berlind ’52 Professor in the Humanities, and Director of the Creative Writing Program, at Princeton University.