March 13 & 14, 2004
Alma Flor Ada
Alma Flor Ada is Professor Emerita at USF, founder and first Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the National Assoc. for Bilingual Education (NABE), and award winning author of books for children and adolescents, writes in a variety of genres. Her memoir Under the Royal Palms: A Childhood in Cuba earned the Pura Belpré Award. My Name is Maria Isabel was a NCSS/CBC Notable Book and ABA "Pick of the Lists" and the Hidden Forest book, Dear Peter Rabbit, won the Parents' Choice Award. Her books for teachers include A Magical Encounter and Authors In the Classroom: Transformative Education for Teachers, Students, and Families. New releases are Pio Peep, I Love Saturdays y domingos and Mamá Goose, A Latino Nursery Treasury. Web Site: www.almaflorada.com
Ashley Bryan
Ashley Bryan grew up in the Bronx, New York in a house full of storytellers. His parents were from the island of Antigua in the Caribbean. With more than 30 books to his credit, he has won the Coretta Scott King Award for Beat the Story Drum, Pum-Pum. The Lion and Ostrich, his ABC's of African Tales and What a Morning! were all honor books. He is the recipient of the Arbuthnot Prize, an international achievement award. Ashley has been making books since he was a child. He studied at the Cooper Union Art School and Columbia University. He has taught at Queens College, Lafayette College and Dartmouth. He presently lives on an island off the coast of Maine.
F. Isabel Campoy
F. Isabel Campoy is the author of numerous children's books in the areas of poetry, theater, stories, biographies, and art. She is a songwriter, storyteller, researcher and author of several books on the culture and civilization of the Hispanic world. Isabel's poetry has appeared in eleven anthologies. Many of her poems have been put to music by Suni Paz, and appear in the collection Músicaamiga. She is a scholar devoted to the study of language acquisition, with degrees in Philology from Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Reading University in England, and UCLA in the United States. She was born in Alicante, Spain, coming to the United States at the age of 16. She is known for her work as a translator and has written many books with Alma Flor Ada. A recent book of hers is Rosa Raposa. Website: www.isabelcampoy.com
Minfong Ho
Minfong Ho has a special interest in"Third Language." This concept refers to young people who grow up with mixed heritages and perhaps more than one language due to family relationships and living in different places. She was born in Burma, grew up in Thailand, began university in Taiwan, then moved to Cornell University in New York. She was a journalist in Singapore and lectured at Chiengmai University in Thailand. She has worked as a nutritionist with Cambodian refugees, which inspired The Clay Marble. She is the recipient of the Southeast Asian Writers Award and Singapore's Cultural Medallion. Her many books for children include the Caldecott Honor Book, Hush! A Thai Lullaby, as well as Maples in the Mist, Poems for Children from the Tang Dynasty, Brother Rabbit: A Cambodian Tale, Rice without Rain,and The Stone Goddess. Website: www.members.authorsguild.net/minfong
Cynthia Leitich Smith
Cynthia Leitich Smith is the award-winning author of Jingle Dancer, Rain Is Not My Indian Name, and Indian Shoes. She was a 2001 Writer of the Year in Children's Prose from Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. Her Website, Children's Literature Resources at www.cynthialeitichsmith.com, was named one of the top 10 writer sites on the Internet by Writer's Digest. She is also a tribal member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, lives in Austin, Texas; and is married to children's author Greg Leitich Smith. Website: www.cynthialeitichsmith.com
Greg Leitich Smith
Greg Leitich Smith is a patent attorney living in Austin, Texas, with his wife Cynthia Leitich Smith, and a quartet of cats, one of whom reviews feline-related picture books on the Internet. Greg grew up in Chicago. He attended Waters Elementary School, St. Philip Lutheran and Lane Tech. He has a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; a Master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin; and a law degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. His first novel, Ninjas, Piranhas, And Galileo, is a science comedy for middle readers set in Chicago about three friends who participate in their school science fair and end up in their student court because of it. It is scheduled for publication by Little, Brown in Fall 2003. Website: www.gregleitichsmith.com
Suzanne Fisher Staples
Suzanne Fisher Staples served as a news reporter and editor for United Press International for ten years in Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, New York, and Washington, DC. She later worked as a foreign news editor for The Washington Post. She returned to Pakistan to assess the lives of poor rural women on an assignment with the United States Agency for International Development. She is the author of a memoir, The Green Dog. Her four novels: Shabanu Daughter of the Wind, a 1990 Newbery Honor book and its sequel, Haveli, as well as Dangerous Skies, and Shiva's Fire have all won numerous awards. She has been at work on a novel about Afghan refugees set in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Website: www.suzannefisherstaples.com
Ruth Starke
Dr. Starke is a full-time writer and part-time academic. She teaches English at the Flinders University of South Australia, and creative writing at Adelaide TAFE, in schools and at the SA Writers' Centre. She has published 16 novels for young people, as well as two non-fiction titles, and is a regular book reviewer for journals and radio. Her novel about a multi-cultural cricket team, NIPS XI (published in 2000 and now in its ninth edition) was named Honour Book by the Children's Book Council of Australia, and won an international UNESCO award for Children's Books that Promote Tolerance. In 2002, she was awarded the prestigious Carclew Fellowship by the South Australian government in recognition of her achievement in creative writing for young people. Website: www.ruthstarke.itgo.com
Ruth Stotter
Ruth Stotter is the former Director of the Dominican University Storytelling Program (1985-1999), past chairperson of the Folk Narrative Section for the American Folklore Society (1999-2003), and served on the AFS Aesop Prize Committee which selects outstanding children's books based on Folklore 1994-1997. She has participated in meetings of the International Society of Folk Narrative in Mysore, India and Nairobi, Kenya. She received the first Pacific Region Award from the National Storytelling Association (formerly NAPPS) in 1997, and has conducted workshops for their national conferences on "Symbolism in Fairytales" and "Storytelling with Props". She has performed on four continents (Great Britain, France, Portugal, Malaysia, Australia, Africa) and produced and hosted "The Oral Tradition" on KUSF-FM in San Francisco 1982-1988. Website: www.ruthstotter.com or www.storyteller.net/tellers/rstotter
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