Authors & Illustrators

Jennie Liu is the daughter of Chinese immigrants. She has been fascinated by the attitudes, social policies, and changes in China each time she visits. Her young adult novels have won honors including a Freeman Book Award Honorable Mention and an In the Margins: Best Books for Teens award. She lives in North Carolina with…

Michaela Schwamberger, born in Upper Austria in 1996, knew from an early age that she wanted to tell stories. As a child, she wrote her first texts and illustrated them herself – and nothing has changed since then. She brings her creativity to her everyday work as a kindergarten teacher, surrounded by children’s books, colours…

Diego Dutra de Souza is a Brazilian living in Albacete, where he works in the field of sustainability, collaborative entrepreneurship and creativity.

Pablo Albo (Alicante, 1971) is a writer and oral storyteller. He told stories for the first time in 1994. He has travelled throughout Spain and visited numerous countries, telling stories in libraries, theatres and festivals. He tells stories for all kinds of audiences. He has also written more than fifty stories, which have been translated…

Christian Inaraja Genís is an artist based in Barcelona who has illustrated over a hundred books, which have been translated into several languages. Among the awards he has received are the National Prize for Best Published Book (2019), the Compostela International Prize for Illustrated Albums (2018) and the Junceda Prize (2013). He currently teaches illustration…

Ella Grace Foutz earned her bachelor of arts in liberal arts from Southern Virginia University and now resides in northern Ohio. Lullabies for the Insomniacs is her debut book.

Raised in the Boogie Down Bronx, NoNieqa Ramos is an educator and literary activist. Their work includes the young adult novels The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary and The Truth Is, as well as the picture book Hair Story. They believe Halloween is a lifestyle, not a holiday. If you’re in Virginia, you might catch NoNieqa getting…

Marcia Argueta Mickelson was born in Guatemala and immigrated to the United States as an infant. She attended high school in New Jersey and then graduated from Brigham Young University with a BA in American Studies. She is the author of six novels including Star Shining Brightly, The Huaca, and Where I Belong, and she…

Lupe Ruiz-Flores is the author of six bilingual picture books. She is a former Regional Advisor for the Southwest Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) and until recently its newsletter editor. Lupe has won the SCBWI Work-In-Progress Grant, the SCBWI/Amazon Work-in-Progress Grant, and the SCBWI Martha Weston Award. She is…

Jona Manow originally comes from the theatre stage: after studying German language and literature with a focus on theatre and film in Hamburg, he worked as an assistant director on various projects and finally spent four seasons as a permanent member of the theatre company at Theater Regensburg. He has been a freelance theatre director…

Shelley Hanmo is a self-taught freelance illustrator and paper artist based in Indianapolis, Indiana. She specializes in creating children’s book cut paper illustrations and editorial designs.

Elizabeth Everett spent 16 years as a classroom teacher before venturing into writing. She currently lives in Colorado with her family where they love spending time outdoors.

Josee Bisaillon grew up in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada. Her illustrations are a mixture of collage, drawings, and digital montage, taking us into a richly detailed and multidimensional world.

Before pursuing her aspirations as a children’s literature author, Danna Zeiger was the biology professor and program director for Fisher College’s biology program, serving disadvantaged and first-in-the-family students from diverse backgrounds. While homeschooling her three spirited kids, Danna established a STEM accessibility and educational resource entitled DrZatHome. She a member of SCBWI and Storyteller Academy…

Jam Dong was born in Shanghai, China. She has an MA degree of moving image at University of Arts London and graduated from MFA Illustration Practice of Maryland Institute College of Art in 2021. She likes to use bright colors and simple shapes to build the imaginary world inside her mind. The beauty of nature…

Kelly Rice Schmitt is an author of STEAM children’s literature. She holds a B.B.A in Finance and Chinese from the University of Notre Dame and is an advocate for girls in STEM, business, and other fields with gender gaps. She can be found in North Carolina helping other traders grow their businesses, writing for children,…

Sophia Moog was born in Rotenburg in 2002. She developed a strong interest in art, design, and creativity at an early age. She loves nothing more than putting the stories in her head down on paper. She is currently studying at an art university in Rotterdam, organizing exhibitions, and enthusiastically illustrating a wide variety of…

Anastasia Braun was born in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, in 1985 and emigrated to Germany with her family as a child. To learn the new language, she often lost herself in children’s books, a passion that has stayed with her to this day. The trained graphic designer writes and illustrates children’s books—preferably in the…

The Kinderkunsthaus [Children’s Art House] is a non-profit organization in Munich. The focus of the creative workshop is on teaching aesthetic education and the joy of free artistic creation. In a relaxed atmosphere without pressure to perform, the Kinderkunsthaus offers children a safe space where they can experiment, develop, interact with others, and get creative…

Whether ballet, jazz dance, hip-hop or flamenco – Kristina Scharmacher-Schreiber’s feet have already been in a wide variety of dance shoes. She also studied German language and literature in Münster and Bergamo and then worked for many years for major opera houses and ballet companies. She has been writing children’s books since 2017. Her work…