Cynthia Leitich Smith is a bestselling, acclaimed author of books for all ages, including Here Come the Grandmas!, Here Come the Aunties!, Firefly Season, Jingle Dancer, Indian Shoes, On a Wing and a Tear, Sisters of the Neversea, the Blue Stars series (with Kekla Magoon), Rain Is Not My Indian Name, Harvest House, and Hearts Unbroken, which won the American Indian Youth Literature Award. Cynthia is also the anthologist of Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids and of Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories, which won the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature and the American Indian Youth Literature Award. She has been honored with the American Library Association’s Children’s Literature Lecture Award and has been named the NSK Neustadt Laureate. She is the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint at HarperChildren’s, and served as the Katherine Paterson Endowed Chair on the faculty of the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Cynthia is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and lives in Denton, Texas.

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Cynthia actively supports equity and inclusivity in the world of books and beyond, and she enjoys participating in events created using the same approach. She is not available for any events that discriminate against marginalized or underrepresented people, either on the page or off. This includes any non-Native/non-tribal schools with “Indian mascots.” For context, please read the WNDB definition of diversity.

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