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William Durbin

William Durbin lives on Lake Vermilion at the edge of Minnesota's Boundary Waters Wilderness. A winner of the Great Lakes Book Award and a...
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Lee Ann Landstrom

Lee Ann Landstrom has been an interpretive naturalist and environmental educator since 1980. She is retired from the directorship (27-years) of Eastman Nature Center...
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Edith Karras

Edith Marie Karras has been taking pictures for more than 30 years and has lived in Minneapolis since 1985. Over the decades she has...
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Crown Shepherd

Crown Shepherd is an author and reading advocate. She has dedicated her life to closing the illiteracy rate within the Black community. Shepherd believes...
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Michael Tisserand

Michael Tisserand's books include the Eisner Award-winning biography Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White, an exploration of the "Krazy Kat" cartoonist...
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Payal Doshi

Payal Doshi has a Master’s in Creative Writing (fiction) from The New School, New York. Having lived in the UK and US, she noticed...
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Bridget Reistad

Bridget Reistad is an educator and librarian who has worked in K-12, public, and academic libraries for nearly 30 years. A licensed high school...
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Nick Healy

Nick Healy writes fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. His short story collection, It Takes You Over, was a Friends of American Writers...
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Bonnie Graves

Author of children’s books, both fiction and non-fiction, and professional books on teaching reading, Bonnie Graves spent her growing-up years in Southern California. There...
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Cristina Oxtra

Filipino American author Cristina Oxtra earned an MFA in creative writing for children and young adults and a B.A. in journalism. She writes picture...

Ayaan Adan

Ayaan Adan is a UX designer, organizer, and author of Daughters of Arraweelo: Stories of Somali Women. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where she earned a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology. Her design philosophy centers a human-centered approach that values collaboration and quality. Adan is an avid writer and storyteller. She…
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Sarah Ahiers

Sarah Ahiers has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University and lives in Minnesota with her dogs and a house full of critters. She has a collection of steampunk hats and when she’s not writing she fills her time with good games, good food, good friends, and good family. Ahiers…
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Rebecca Ansari

After twelve years as an ER doctor, Rebecca K.S. Ansari shelved her scrubs to write magical and mysterious worlds for middle grade readers. Her debut novel, The Missing Piece of Charlie O’Reilly was a Minnesota Book Award finalist, an ALA 2020 Notable Children’s Book nominee, and a Junior Library Guild selection. Her second novel, The…
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Colleen Baldrica

Inspired by the teachings of her Native American grandmother, Colleen Baldrica began her spiritual journey as a child. The wisdom of these teachings guided her while earning both a Masters degree in School Counseling and a Ph.D. in The Philosophy of Education as well as becoming an award-winning author, presenter, and teacher. The mission of…
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Kelly Barnhill

Kelly Barnhill is the author of four novels, most recently The Girl Who Drank the Moon, winner of the Newbery Medal. The Witch’s Boy received four starred reviews and was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Awards. Barnhill has been awarded writing fellowships from the Jerome Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and The McKnight…
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Charissa Bates

Charissa Bates is an award-winning children’s author, children’s mental health therapist, and speaker who is passionate about helping families find joy through storytelling. She is the author of Cancer Messed with the Wrong Family and the beloved Traveling Book series, which celebrates community, kindness, and connection through Little Free Libraries. With years of experience working…
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Marion Dane Bauer

Marion Dane Bauer has published over 100 books, ranging from board books and picture books through early readers, both fiction and nonfiction, books on writing, middle-grade, and young-adult novels. She is the editor of the ground-breaking collection of gay-and-lesbian-themed short stories, Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence. She was one of the founders…
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Patricia Bauer

Patricia Bauer spent almost four decades in the classroom and continues to share her passion for learning with people of all ages. Bauer and her husband, artist Dave Geister, created an activity book, Making Minnesota, for children of all ages. Published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press and funded by the Legacy Amendment, the book…
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Leanne M. Benson

Through the window of Leanne M Benson’s modest art studio, the hardwood forest opens to a spring-fed trout stream that meanders into the distance. Most of her creative ideas have come while hiking this land where she often hurries back from a walk, plops onto a chair in a loft that overlooks a massive 21-foot…
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V.T. Bidania

V.T. Bidania is the author of the Astrid and Apollo chapter book series, which is the first children’s book series to star Hmong American characters. She was born in Laos and grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota, right where Astrid and Apollo live! She has an MFA in creative writing from the New School and…
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