Discover New Authors & Beloved Favorites

Check out more than 70 of the nation's best authors, poets and illustrators, who will discuss their work and answer your questions at your National Book Festival.

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  • Biography
    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 the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She is a former director of the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education. Boulley lives in southwest Michigan, but her home will always be on Sugar Island, Michigan. Her debut novel,...
  • Biography
    Douglas Brinkley Douglas Brinkley is the Katherine Tsanoff Brown chair in humanities and professor of history at Rice University, presidential historian for the New-York Historical Society, trustee of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Six of his nonfiction books have been chosen as New York Times notable books of the year. Brinkley has received environmental leadership prizes including a...
  • Biography
    Nick Brooks Nick Brooks is an author and award-winning filmmaker from Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s TV and film production program. He received a George Lucas Scholar Award and a finalist position in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Film Fest for his short film, “Hoop Dreamin’.” Brooks’ first feature film, “We Were Born Kings,” is currently in development with...
  • Biography
    Jericho Brown Jericho Brown is the author of “The Tradition,” which won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry and the Paterson Poetry Prize, and was a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. His first book, “Please,” won the American Book Award and his second book, “The New Testament,” won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. Brown is the recipient of fellowships from...
  • Biography
    Chasten Buttigieg Chasten Buttigieg grew up in Traverse City, Michigan. He is a teacher, advocate and husband of former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. Chasten currently lives with Pete; their two children and their two rescue dogs in northern Michigan. His new book, “I Have Something to Tell You―For Young Adults: A Memoir External,” is an adaptation for young adults of his earlier memoir and will be...

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  • Biography
    Lesa Cline-Ransome Lesa Cline-Ransome is the author of 25 books for young readers, including the award-winning Finding Langston trilogy. Her work has received a plethora of honors, including NAACP Image Award nominations, a Coretta Scott King Book Award Honor, the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction and a Christopher Award. Her books have been named on multiple notable book lists, and she lives in New York....
  • Biography
    S.A. Cosby S.A. Cosby is an Anthony, Barry, and Macavity Award-winning writer from southeastern Virginia. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller “Razorblade Tears,” which was recommended on Barack Obama's summer reading list and named a best book of the year by NPR, The Washington Post, Time and more. His novel “Blacktop Wasteland” won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was named...

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  • Biography
    Sayantani DasGupta Sayantani DasGupta is the bestselling author of the critically-acclaimed, Bengali folktale and string theory-inspired Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond series. She is also the author of two other series set in the Kingdom Beyond multiverse, the anticolonial and Indian revolution-inspired Fire Queen series and the environmentally-themed Secrets of the Sky series. Her other books include “She Persisted: Virginia Apgar” and the Jane Austen-inspired young...
  • Biography
    Jennifer De Leon Jennifer De Leon is the author of the novel “Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From” and the essay collection “White Space: Essays on Culture, Race and Writing.” She is also the editor of the award-winning anthology “Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education.” De Leon’s work has appeared in Ploughshares, The Iowa Review and Michigan Quarterly Review. She is currently an associate professor of creative...
  • Biography
    Matthew Desmond Matthew Desmond is the Maurice P. During professor of sociology at Princeton University and the founding director of the Eviction Lab, a lab that studies housing insecurity and evictions in the United States. His previous book, “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City,” won a Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Critics Circle Award and a PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award, among others. The recipient...
  • Biography
    Tananarive Due Tananarive Due is an award-winning author who teaches Black horror and Afrofuturism at University of California, Los Angeles. A leading voice in Black speculative fiction for many years, Due has received an American Book Award, an NAACP Image Award and a British Fantasy Award, and her writing has been included in best-of-the-year anthologies. Her stories have been featured on the “LeVar Burton Reads” podcast...
  • Biography
    Camille T. Dungy Camille T. Dungy is the author of four collections of poetry and two essay collections, including “Guidebook to Relative Strangers: Journeys into Race, Motherhood and History,” which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Dungy has also edited anthologies including “Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry” and “From the Fishouse: An Anthology of Poems that Sing, Rhyme, Resound,...

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  • Biography
    Beverly Gage Beverly Gage is a professor of 20th-century American history at Yale University. She is the author of “The Day Wall Street Exploded,” which examined the history of terrorism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Gage writes frequently for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker, among other publications. Her new biography, “G-Man: J....
  • Biography
    Michaela Goade Michaela Goade is a bestselling illustrator and enrolled member of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. Her book, “We Are Water Protectors,” written by Carole Lindstrom, won the 2021 Caldecott Medal and was a 2020 Kirkus Prize finalist. Goade’s debut as an author, “Berry Song,” received a Caldecott Honor in 2023. Goade recently illustrated “Remember External,” written by former U.S. Poet Laureate...
  • Biography
    David Grann David Grann is the author of the No. 1 New York Times bestsellers “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “The Lost City of Z.” “Killers of the Flower Moon” was a finalist for The National Book Award and won an Edgar Allan Poe Award. He is also the author of “The White Darkness” and the collection “The Devil and Sherlock Holmes.” Grann's storytelling has...
  • Biography
    Alan Gratz Alan Gratz is the New York Times bestselling author of several highly acclaimed books for young readers, including “Two Degrees,” “Ground Zero,” “Allies,” “Grenade,” “Refugee,” “Projekt 1065,” “Prisoner B-3087” and “Code of Honor.” Gratz holds a bachelor’s in creative writing and a master's degree in English education, both from the University of Tennessee. His new graphic novel, “Captain America: The Ghost Army External,” will...

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  • Biography
    Joy Harjo Joy Harjo, the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States, is an internationally renowned performer and writer of the Mvskoke Nation. Harjo is the author of 10 books of poetry, several plays, children's books and two memoirs; she has also produced seven award-winning music albums and edited several anthologies. Her many honors include the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Wallace Stevens Award, two National...
  • Biography
    Jeanine Hays Jeanine Hays is an accomplished writer, interior and product designer, and together with her husband, Bryan Mason, is the founder and creative director of AphroChic, a brand dedicated to celebrating design, culture, creativity, health and wellness throughout the African diaspora. A graduate of Spelman College and American University Washington College of Law, Hays pursued a career as a policy attorney, working with the Obama...
  • Biography
    John Hendrickson John Hendrickson is a staff writer at The Atlantic. He previously wrote and edited for Rolling Stone, Esquire and The Denver Post. His Atlantic feature “What Joe Biden Can’t Bring Himself to Say” was named one of the best stories of 2019 by Longform. He lives in New York City with his wife. Hendrickson’s debut memoir, “Life on Delay: Making Peace With a Stutter...
  • Biography
    Grady Hendrix Grady Hendrix is an award-winning novelist and screenwriter living in New York City. He is the author of “Horrorstör” and “We Sold Our Souls.” His novel “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” is currently being adapted into film and the New York Times bestseller “The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires” is being adapted into a television show. Hendrix also authored the Bram Stoker Award-winning...
  • Biography
    Henry Hoke Henry Hoke is an editor at The Offing and the author of several books of fiction, memoir and poetry. His work appears in No Tokens, Electric Literature, Triangle House and Carve. Hoke holds a Master of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts, where he taught from 2014-2019. His play, “At Sundown,” premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and his short film, “Taking...

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  • Biography
    Tahir Hamut Izgil Tahir Hamut Izgil is one of the foremost poets writing in the Uyghur language. He grew up in Kashgar, an ancient city in the southwest of the Uyghur homeland. After attending college in Beijing, he returned to the Uyghur region and emerged as a prominent film director. Izgil’s poetry, as translated by Joshua L. Freeman, has appeared in The New York Review of Books,...

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  • Biography
    Linda Kao Linda Kao grew up in California and spent most weekends throughout elementary school hauling books home from the library to read on the living room rug. After completing her degree at Stanford University, she taught elementary school for several years before earning a doctorate in education from the University of California, Los Angeles. Along the way, she discovered a love for writing fiction. She...
  • Biography
    Mary Louise Kelly Mary Louise Kelly has been reporting for NPR for nearly two decades and is now co-host of the podcast “All Things Considered.” She has also served as a contributing editor at The Atlantic. Kelly wrote the suspense novels “Anonymous Sources” and “The Bullet,” and is the author of articles and essays that have appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post...
  • Biography
    James Kirchick James Kirchick is a columnist for Tablet magazine and a writer at large for Air Mail. A widely published journalist and historian, he has reported from over 40 countries, and his reportage, essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, The New York Review of Books and many other...
  • Biography
    TJ Klune TJ Klune is the bestselling author of “The House in the Cerulean Sea,” “Into This River I Drown” and “Under the Whispering Door.” He is also the author of multiple fantasy series, including Green Creek and Tales from Verania, as well as the young adult series The Extraordinaries. Klune has won a Lambda Literary Award and an Alex Award, and has been nominated for...
  • Biography
    Jarrett J. Krosoczka Jarrett J. Krosoczka is a New York Times bestselling author, a two-time winner of a Children's Choice Book Award, an Eisner Award nominee and the author/illustrator of more than 30 books for young readers. His critically-acclaimed graphic novel memoir, “Hey, Kiddo,” was a National Book Award finalist. Krosoczka’s work includes several picture books, select volumes of the Star Wars: Jedi Academy series, the Lunch...
  • Biography
    Cheuk Kwan Cheuk Kwan was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan. He has lived in the US, Canada and Saudi Arabia. He speaks English, Japanese, French and several Chinese dialects. Kwan is a writer and filmmaker who co-founded a magazine, The Asianadian, and a film production company, Tissa Films. He loves and appreciates food, culture and travel. His new...

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  • Biography
    Victor LaValle Victor LaValle is the author of many works including a short story collection, five novels, two novellas and two comic books. His novel “The Changeling” has been adapted for television. LaValle has received numerous awards, including a World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award, Bram Stoker Award, Whiting Award and an American Book Award. He lives in New York with his family and teaches at...
  • Biography
    Grace Lin Grace Lin is the bestselling author and illustrator of over 30 books and winner of a Children's Literature Legacy Award. Her books include "A Big Mooncake for Little Star,” a Caldecott Honor book, and “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon,” a Newbery Honor book. Lin’s new picture book, “Once Upon a Book External,” will be featured at the 2023 National Book Festival.
  • Biography
    David Lipsky David Lipsky is the author of the New York Times bestsellers “Absolutely American” and “Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself,” which was later adapted into the movie “The End of the Tour.” He has written for Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, and New York, and he is a recipient of the National Magazine Award and the GLAAD Media Award. He...
  • Biography
    John Lisle John Lisle is a historian of science and the American intelligence community and received his doctorate in history from the University of Texas, where he currently teaches. He is the recipient of several research and writing awards, including from the National Academy of Sciences, the American Institute of Physics and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Lisle’s writing has appeared in Scientific American, Smithsonian...

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  • Biography
    Rebecca Makkai Rebecca Makkai is the author of the bestselling novel “The Great Believers,” which was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award; it was the winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal, the Stonewall Book Award, the Clark Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her other books are the novels “The Borrower” and “The Hundred-Year House,” and the collection...
  • Biography
    Pedro Martín Pedro Martín was a Hallmark artist for 27 years and is the creator of the “Asteroid Andy” cartoon shorts. His debut book is a graphic novel memoir about his childhood in the 1970s, in which he travels with his large family to Mexico to pick up his legendary grandfather (who may or may not have been a part of the Mexican Revolution). Martín’s debut,...
  • Biography
    Bryan Mason Bryan Mason is a co-founder and editor-in-chief of AphroChic magazine, a quarterly publication focused on the lifestyle and culture of the African diaspora. Among his contributions to the magazine, Mason writes the Journey to Diaspora series, which explores the history and theory of the African diaspora concept. He is a graduate of Drexel University, and holds master’s degrees in Systematic Philosophical Theology and African...
  • Biography
    Shane McCrae Shane McCrae is the author of several books of poetry, including “In the Language of My Captor,” which was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the William Carlos Williams Award; “Sometimes I Never Suffered,” shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize; and his recent collection, “Cain Named the Animal.” McCrae has received a Whiting Award, a National...
  • Biography
    Karen M. McManus Karen M. McManus is an internationally bestselling author of young adult thrillers. Her work includes the One of Us Is Lying series, which has been turned into a television show on Peacock and Netflix, as well as the stand-alone novels “Two Can Keep a Secret,” “The Cousins,” “You’ll Be the Death of Me” and “Nothing More to Tell.” McManus’ work has been translated into...
  • Biography
    Meg Medina Meg Medina, the 2023-2024 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, is a Cuban American author who writes for readers of all ages. Her middle grade novel “Merci Suárez Changes Gears” received a Newbery Medal and was a New York Times Book Review Notable Children’s Book of the Year, among many other distinctions. Her young adult novel “Burn Baby Burn” earned numerous distinctions, including being...
  • Biography
    Siddhartha Mukherjee Siddhartha Mukherjee is the author of “The Gene: An Intimate History,” a No. 1 New York Times bestseller; “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer,” a Pulitzer Prize winner; and “The Laws of Medicine.” He is also the editor of “The Best Science and Nature Writing 2013.” Mukherjee is an associate professor of medicine at Columbia University and a cancer physician and...

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  • Biography
    Daniel Nayeri Daniel Nayeri was born in Iran and spent a couple of years as a refugee before immigrating to Oklahoma at age eight with his family. His autobiographical novel, “Everything Sad is Untrue: (a true story),” was the winner of a Michael L. Printz Award, a Christopher Award and a Middle East Book Award. Nayeri is a former publisher, editor and pastry chef. He lives...
  • Biography
    Jamar Nicholas Jamar Nicholas is an award-winning, Philadelphia-based artist, graphic novelist and educator, dedicating his career to helping young people realize the power of visual narrative. Nicholas aims to promote anti-bullying, healing and kindness in his work. His latest graphic novel, “Leon the Extraordinary External,” will be featured at the 2023 National Book Festival.

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  • Biography
    José Olivarez José Olivarez is the child of Mexican immigrants, grew up in the Chicago area and currently lives in New York. His debut book of poems, “Citizen Illegal,” won the 2018 Chicago Review of Books Award for poetry. In 2019, he won a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. Olivarez’s work has been featured widely, including in the New...
  • Biography
    Claribel A. Ortega Claribel A. Ortega is a New York Times bestselling and award-winning author who writes middle grade and young adult fantasy novels inspired by her Dominican heritage. She co-hosts the “Bad Author Book Club” podcast and is a contributing author for Marvel. Ortega’s work has been featured in BuzzFeed, Bustle and Deadline. Her debut middle grade novel, “Ghost Squad,” is being adapted into a feature...
  • Biography
    Mark Oshiro Mark Oshiro is the author of the young adult books “Anger Is a Gift” and “Each of Us a Desert.” Their middle grade books include “The Insiders,” “You Only Live Once, David Bravo” and “Star Wars Hunters: Battle for the Arena.” Oshiro is the co-author, with Rick Riordan, of “The Sun and The Star: A Nico Di Angelo Adventure.” They received two Hugo Award...

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  • Biography
    Elliot Page Elliot Page is an Academy Award-nominated actor, a producer and a director who currently stars in the hit series “The Umbrella Academy.” His debut memoir, “Pageboy,” shares behind the scenes details of his rise in Hollywood after the release of “Juno” and his experience in untangling his true self in a web of expectations. “Pageboy: A Memoir External” will be featured at the 2023...
  • Biography
    R.J. Palacio R.J. Palacio is the author of the No. 1 New York Times bestseller “Wonder,” which has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. The book's message inspired the Choose Kind movement and has been embraced by readers around the world, with the book published in over 50 languages. “Wonder” was made into a blockbuster movie starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, and Jacob Tremblay. Palacio’s other...
  • Biography
    Erica S. Perl Erica S. Perl is the author of more than 40 popular and critically-acclaimed books for children and teens. Her middle grade novels include “All Three Stooges” and “When Life Gives You O.J.” Perl also writes picture books, early readers and chapter books. She has received fellowships from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Yiddish...

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  • Biography
    R.K. Russell R.K. Russell is a former NFL football player, a social justice advocate, published poet, essayist and artist. In August of 2019, Russell made history by becoming the first out active NFL player to identify as bisexual. A decorated defensive end who has played for the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he has sacked Hall of Famers and gone up against the fiercest...

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  • Biography
    Doug Salati Doug Salati is the illustrator of Tomie dePaola's “In a Small Kingdom” and Matthew Farina's “Lawrence in the Fall,” an Ezra Jack Keats Illustrator Award Honoree. He received his master’s from the School of Visual Arts and has received a Sendak Fellowship. Salati’s illustration work has been recognized by 3x3 Illustration, American Illustration and the Society of Illustrators. He is the author and illustrator...
  • Biography
    Esmeralda Santiago Esmeralda Santiago is the author of the novel “Conquistadora” and the memoirs “When I Was Puerto Rican” and “Almost A Woman,” which was adapted into a Peabody Award–winning movie. Born in Puerto Rico, she currently lives with her husband, documentary filmmaker Frank Cantor, in New York and Maine. Her latest release “Las Madres: A Novel External,” will be featured at the 2023 National Book...
  • Biography
    George Saunders George Saunders is the bestselling author of 11 books, including “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain,” “Lincoln in the Bardo,” “Congratulations, by the Way,” “Tenth of December” and “The Braindead Megaphone.” His critically acclaimed collections include “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline,” “Pastoralia” and “In Persuasion Nation.” Saunders has received a Booker Prize and a Rathbones Folio Prize, and was a finalist for the...
  • Biography
    John Scalzi John Scalzi is a bestselling science fiction author. His debut, “Old Man's War,” won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Scalzi’s New York Times bestsellers include “The Last Colony,” “Fuzzy Nation,” “Redshirts” (which won the 2013 Hugo Award for best novel) and “The Last Emperox.” Material from his blog, Whatever, has earned him two other Hugo Awards. He currently lives in...
  • Biography
    Gary D. Schmidt Gary D. Schmidt is the bestselling author of many books for young readers, including “Just Like That,” National Book Award finalist “Okay for Now,” “Pay Attention, Carter Jones,” “Orbiting Jupiter,” the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor book “Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy” and the Newbery Honor book “The Wednesday Wars.” He is a professor of English at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan....
  • Biography
    Nicole Sealey Nicole Sealey is the author of “Ordinary Beast,” finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and the PEN Open Book Award, and “The Animal After Whom Other Animals Are Named,” winner of the Drinking Gourd Chapbook Poetry Prize. Sealey’s honors include a Rome Prize in literature from the American Academy in Rome and the Stanley Kunitz Memorial Prize from The American Poetry Review, as well...
  • Biography
    Ruta Sepetys Ruta Sepetys is an internationally-acclaimed bestselling author of historical fiction published in over 60 countries and 40 languages. Sepetys’ books are read by both young adults and adults worldwide, and she is known for giving voice to underrepresented history and those who experienced it. She has received a Carnegie Medal and her books have won or been shortlisted for over 40 book prizes, are...
  • Biography
    Nisi Shawl Nisi Shawl is an award-winning writer and editor known for diverse speculative fiction. Their novel “Everfair” was nominated for a Nebula Award and their short story collection “Filter House” won an Otherwise Award. In 1997, they co-founded the Carl Brandon Society to help give people of color greater visibility in the science fiction and fantasy worlds, and their book “Writing the Other” and workshops...
  • Biography
    Sara Shepard Sara Shepard is the New York Times bestselling author of two young adult series, Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game, which were both adapted for television. She has written several books for adults including “Everything We Ever Wanted.” Shepard has a Master of Fine Arts from Brooklyn College and currently lives in Pennsylvania. Her latest book, “Penny Draws a Best Friend External,” is...
  • Biography
    Lane Smith Bestselling and critically-acclaimed illustrator Lane Smith studied art in college and went on to illustrate for a variety of publications including Time, Mother Jones and Ms. “It’s a Book,” one of his New York Times bestsellers, has been translated into 25 languages. Smith received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Illustrators and received the Caldecott Honor twice. Smith’s most recent book, “Stickler...
  • Biography
    Saket Soni Saket Soni is a labor organizer and human rights strategist. He is the founder and director of Resilience Force, a national initiative to transform America’s response to natural disasters by strengthening and securing America’s resilience workforce. Soni’s writing has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The Nation and other major publications. He is an experienced public speaker, with past engagements including major foundation boards,...

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  • Biography
    Héctor Tobar Héctor Tobar is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and novelist. He is the author of the critically-acclaimed bestseller “Deep Down Dark” as well as “The Barbarian Nurseries,” “Translation Nation” and “The Tattooed Soldier.” Tobar is also a contributing writer for the New York Times opinion pages and an associate professor at the University of California, Irvine. He has written for The New Yorker, The Los...
  • Biography
    Amor Towles Amor Towles is the New York Times bestselling author of “Rules of Civility” and “A Gentleman in Moscow.” The two novels have collectively sold more than three million copies and have been translated into more than 30 languages. Having worked as an investment professional for more than 20 years, Towles now devotes himself full time to writing in New York City, where he lives...
  • Biography
    Trang Thanh Tran Trang Thanh Tran is a Vietnamese-American author who writes emotional, speculative stories that highlight food, belonging and the Vietnamese diaspora. They’re an alum of the Writing Barn’s Rainbow Weekend and Tin House’s Young Adult Fiction Workshop. When not writing, they are busy trying new food and watching zombie movies. Tran’s debut novel, "She Is a Haunting External," will be featured at the 2023 National...

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  • Biography
    Luis Alberto Urrea Luis Alberto Urrea is the bestselling author of many works of nonfiction, poetry and fiction, including “The Hummingbird’s Daughter” and “The House of Broken Angels,” a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his landmark work of nonfiction “The Devil’s Highway,” now in its 34th paperback printing. Urrea is a recipient of an American Academy of...

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  • Biography
    Shelby Van Pelt Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Shelby Van Pelt lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her family. She is a longtime flash fiction and short story writer, and has had several collections published by independent presses. Her bestselling debut novel, “Remarkably Bright Creatures External,” will be featured at the 2023 National Book Festival.
  • Biography
    Mel Valentine Vargas Mel is a queer Cuban-American graphic novelist and illustrator located in Chicago. They hope to draw the kind of illustrations that their younger self, and others like them, could have seen to feel less alone and to feel a lot more love. Vargas illustrated the graphic novel adaptation of Meg Medina’s “Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass External,” which will be featured at...
  • Biography
    Anya von Bremzen Anya von Bremzen is a three-time James Beard Award-winning author and culinary writer. Her work has been featured in Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, AFAR and The New Yorker. Von Bremzen is the author of six cookbooks, including “The New Spanish Table,” “The Greatest Dishes: Around the World in 80 Recipes” and “Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook.” Her memoir, “Mastering the...

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  • Biography
    Janet Wallach Janet Wallach is the author of 10 books, including “Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell,” which has been translated into 12 languages. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine and other periodicals. She has received a Woodrow Wilson fellowship and taught at many colleges and universities. Wallach’s new book, “Flirting with Danger: The Mysterious Life of Marguerite Harrison,...
  • Biography
    Jesmyn Ward 2022 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction winner Jesmyn Ward received her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan. She was a John and Renée Grisham Writer-in-Residence and has received a MacArthur fellowship, a Wallace Stegner fellowship and the Strauss Living Award. Ward is the historic winner—first woman and first Black American—of two National Book Awards for fiction for “Sing, Unburied,...
  • Biography
    Sarah Weinman Sarah Weinman is the author of “Scoundrel” and “The Real Lolita.” She was a 2020 National Magazine Award finalist for reporting and a Calderwood Journalism fellow, and her work has appeared in New York, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair and The Washington Post. Weinman writes the crime column for The New York Times Book Review and lives in New York and Massachusetts. Her...
  • Biography
    Brittany N. Williams Brittany N. Williams is a classically-trained actor who studied musical theater at Howard University and Shakespearean performance at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Previously she's been a principal vocalist at Hong Kong Disneyland, a theater professor at Coppin State University and made appearances in the television series “Queen Sugar” and “Leverage: Redemption.” Williams’ short stories have been published in...
  • Biography
    Kevin Wilson Kevin Wilson is the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of “Nothing to See Here,” “The Family Fang” and “Perfect Little World.” His collection, “Tunneling to the Center of the Earth,” received both an Alex Award and a Shirley Jackson Award. Wilson’s work has appeared in Ploughshares, The Southern Review, A Public Space and the Best American Short Stories series. Wilson lives in...

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  • Biography
    Tiphanie Yanique Tiphanie Yanique is the award-winning author of the novels “Land of Love and Drowning” and “Monster in the Middle External,” the 2023 Great Reads from Great Places U.S. Virgin Islands book selection for adults, as well as the poetry collection “Wife.” Yanique was the winner of the Center for Fiction’s 2014 First Novel Prize and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She...

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  • Biography
    Amélie Wen Zhao Amélie Wen Zhao was born in Paris, France, and grew up in Beijing, China, where she spent her days reenacting tales of legendary heroes, ancient kingdoms and lost magic at her grandmother’s courtyard house. She attended college in the United States and now resides in New York City, working as a finance professional by day and a fantasy author by night. In her spare...