Faculty Biographies: MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults

The members of our faculty are all widely published authors in the fields of children and young adult writing.  Among the honors they have earned are the Newbery Medal, the Newbery Honor Award, the Dorothy Canfield Award, the Caldecott Medal, the Oklahoma Sequoya Award, the Boston Globe Horn Book Award, the Kerlan Award, the Minnesota Book Award, and the Parent’s Choice Award. Several authors have been National Book Award finalists. Their books have been cited in listings such as the American Library Association’s Best Book of the Year, the New York Public Library’s Best Book for the Teen Age, Booklist’s Book of the Decade, Bank Street College of Education’s Best Book of the Year, and many more.  

Select individual faculty (listed below) or see entire list:

Jacqueline Briggs-Martin  l  Marsha Wilson Chall  l  Kate DiCamillo  l  Kelly Easton 
Lisa Jahn-Clough  l  Dinah Johnson  l  Liza Ketchum  l  Ron Koertge  l  Alexandria LaFaye  
Mary Logue  l  Alison McGhee  l  Claire Rudolf Murphy  l  Marsha Qualey  l  Phyllis Root  l 
Gary D. Schmidt   l  Jane Resh Thomas 

Jacqueline Briggs-Martin is the author of sixteen picture books.  She is best known for Snowflake Bentley, which received a Caldecott medal in 1999.  Chiru of High Tibet is forthcoming in 2008.  Her books have won a Golden Kite Honor Award, three Lupine Awards, been named four times to the Blue Ribbon List of the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, and made the Smithsonian Magazine's List of Notable Books.  She has taught creative writing at Cornell College, at the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival, and at The Loft Literary Center.  She lives in Mount Vernon, Iowa.

Kate DiCamillo was born in Pennsylvania, raised in Florida, and currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has written four novels for young readers: Because of Winn-Dixie (a 2001 Newbery Honor book), The Tiger Rising (a National Book Award finalist), The Tale of Despereaux (recipient of the 2004 Newbery Medal), and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (winner of a Boston Globe Horn Book Award). She has also written a series of early chapter books about a pig named Mercy Watson and a picture book, Great Joy. Her short stories for adults have appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, Water~Stone Review, The Greensboro Review, and The Rake. She was awarded the Loft-McKnight Fellowship for fiction in 1998 and the Loft-McKnight Fellowship for children's literature in 2001. 

Kelly Easton is the author of six novels for middle-grade readers and young adults, including her most recent, Hiroshima Dreams and White Magic.  Two more YA novels are due out in 2008.  Her novels have won multiple awards, such as an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, the Boston Authors Club Julia Ward Howe Honor Award, a Golden Kite Honor Award, a CCBC Best Books selection, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, and a Booksense Top Ten pick.  She has also published numerous articles and short stories and has had several plays produced.  Kelly has an MFA in playwriting from the University of California at San Diego.  She has taught writing and literature at the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and elsewhere.  She has also worked as a consultant on curriculum development in clinical settings.  She lives in Rhode Island and Martha’s Vineyard with her husband and children.

Lisa Jahn-Clough is an author and illustrator, currently serving as chair of the illustration department at the Maine College of Art.  She is the author of three young adult novels (The Heart of Molly Frank; Me, Penelope; and Country Girl/City Girl, a Book Sense pick) and is the author and illustrator of twelve picture books.  Her picture book, Missing Molly, won a Parent’s Choice Honor Award, and My Friend and I was named one of the Best Kid’s Books of 1999 by Child Magazine. She has taught creative writing in the MFA program at Emerson College and in the Vermont College MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.  She lives in Portland, Maine.

Dianne Johnson is a professor of English and children’s literature at the University of South Carolina and author of seven books for children (under the name Dinah Johnson), including Quinnie Blue and All Around Town: The Photographs of Richard Samuel Roberts, which was named an NCSS-CBC Notable Children’s Trade Book in the field of social studies.  She is a noted scholar of African American children’s literature and author, or editor, of numerous articles and books on such writers as Langston Hughes, Laurence Yep, Angela Johnson, Lucille Clifton, and Eloise Greenfield.  She is currently helping to produce a documentary film entitled Beautiful by Design: The Story of African American Children’s Literature.  She lives in Columbia, South Carolina.

Liza Ketchum is the author of fourteen books for young readers, including the recent historical novel, Where the Great Hawk Flies, which is on the New York Public Library’s List of Best Books for 2005. Her other titles about the American pioneer experience include Orphan Journey Home and the non-fiction titles, Into a New Country: Eight Remarkable Women of the West, an ALA “Best Book” for 2001, and The Gold Rush, a companion to the PBS series “The West.” Blue Coyote, the final title in her quartet of young adult novels, was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. Other books include a ghost story, two middle grade novels, two biographies of women scientists, and a picture book, Good-bye, Sammy. Liza has been on the faculty of the MFA Program in Writing for Children at Vermont College, and has taught writing at Emerson College and at the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons College. 

Ron Koertge is the author of eleven books, most of them novels for young adults. These include Margaux With An X, Stoner & Spaz, and The Brimstone Journals. Most of his books have been American Library Association choices for Best Books and/or Books for Reluctant Readers. Several have been listed in Booklist’s Books of the Decade and the New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age. In addition, his work has won a Georgia Peach Book Honor Award and a Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award. Ron Koertge taught at the city college in Pasadena, California, for many years and in the Vermont College MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

Alexandria LaFaye is the author of seven novels for middle-grade readers. Her latest novel, Worth, won the Scott O’Dell Award for historical fiction, a Nebraska Book Award, a California Book Award, and was listed on numerous "Best Book" lists. The Year of the Sawdust Man and Edith Shay were on the Best Book list for Bank Street College of Education. The Strength of Saints was awarded a Notable Children’s Book award by the Smithsonian Institute. Alexandria has new work under contract with Breakfast Serials. She is an associate professor of English at California State University in San Bernardino and teaches regularly in the Hollins University MA program in children’s literature.

Mary Logue is an award-winning poet and mystery writer and has translated twenty-eight books for children from French into English.  She has published seven adult mysteries; three collections of poetry for adults; one novel for young adults – Dancing With an Alien, which made several “Best” lists, including ALA Best Book for Young Adults and the New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age; multiple books of nonfiction for young readers; and mysteries for young adults.  She is co-author with her husband Pete Hautman of the Bloodwater mystery series for 10-14 year olds.  The first book of that series, Snatched, was recently nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award.  Mary worked as an editor in children’s publishing for many years and has taught writing at Hamline University and at The Loft Literary Center.  She is also an avid rug hooker.  She lives in Minneapolis and Wisconsin.

Alison McGhee loves all forms of literary fiction. She writes novels for both adults and children (Shadow Baby, All Rivers Flow to the Sea, Rainlight, Was It Beautiful?, Snap), poetry, essays, and picture books (Countdown to Kindergarten, Mrs. Watson Wants Your Teeth, A Very Brave Witch). Among her many awards are a Pulitzer Prize nomination, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, Literary Guild selections, Minnesota Book Awards, Book of the Month Club, ALA Best Children's Pick, Today Show Book Club, Oppenheim Gold Toy Portfolio, and Borders Original Voices. She is the Coordinator of Metropolitan State University's B.A. in Creative Writing and for several years was a faculty member at Vermont College's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

Marsha Qualey is the author of several young adult novels, including Just Like That, Too Big a Storm, One Night, and Close to a Killer. Her books have appeared on numerous best-of-the-year lists, including ALA Quick Picks, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, IRA Readers’ Choice, New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age, and School Library Journal's Best Books of the Year. She has won two Minnesota Book Awards and been nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America. Her novels are frequently included on state, library, and school district award lists. Qualey is also the author of a series of picture books with Picture Window Books, an imprint of Capstone Press, and has edited several books for Picture Window Books. In addition to her writing, she has developed and taught a variety of writing workshops for youth and adults and continuing education programs for educators and librarians.

Phyllis Root is the author of over thirty books, almost all of them picture books. Aunt Nancy and Old Man Trouble won the Minnesota Book Award, and Big Momma Makes the World won the Boston Globe Horn Book Award. Root was awarded a 2006 McKnight Fellowship for her book, Lucia and the Light. She has taught in the Complete and Practical Scholar program at the University of Minnesota and in the MFA in writing for children and young adults at Vermont College.

Claire Rudolf Murphy is the author of seventeen books of fiction and nonfiction for children and young adults, including Children of Alcatraz: Growing Up on the Rock; Daughters of the Desert: Remarkable Women of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim Traditions; and Children of the Gold Rush.  Her awards include a Contribution to Literacy Award from the Alaskan Center for Books, a Willa Cather Award, a Sequoyah Children’s Book Award, and an “Outstanding Author” award from the Washington Organization of Reading Development.  She has an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks and has taught creative writing for many years at Eastern Washington University.  From 1994-98 she was the co-director of the Fairbanks Young Writers Institute.  After living for twenty-four years in Alaska, she now lives in Spokane, Washington with her family.

Gary D. Schmidt is the author of over fourteen books for children and young adults, including Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, which won a Newbery Honor award and a Michael L. Printz Honor award in 2005. In God’s Hands, a picture book co-authored with Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, was a runner-up for the 2005 National Jewish Book Award.  In addition to multiple “Best Book” lists, his work has been given a Horn Book Honor award and a Blue Ribbon award by the Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books.  He has also authored or co-authored numerous textbooks, scholarly and academic books (including biographies of Katherine Paterson and Robert McCloskey), articles, and book reviews.  In 1985 he received his Ph.D. in medieval languages and literature from the University of Illinois.  He is a professor in the English department at Calvin College and lives on a farm in Alto, Michigan, with his wife and six children.

Jane Resh Thomas, a recipient of the Kerlan Award for contributions to children's literature, is the author of fifteen published and contracted books, including picture books, short fiction, middle-grade fiction, and biography. The Comeback Dog; Saying Good-Bye to Grandma; Courage at Indian Deep; and Behind the Mask: The Life of Queen Elizabeth I have won, among other honors, a Parent's Choice Award; Notable Books and Best of the Best listing by the ALA; and a Minnesota Book Award. Clarion will publish her novella, Blind Mountain, in fall, 2007. She has taught for many years in the Vermont College low-residency MFA in writing for children and young adults. 

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