The Authorial Voice in Today’s Discourse: The Page, Podium, Platform, Persona (And Nurturing Your Writer’s Heart) by VCFA WCYA inaugural Katherine Paterson chair, Cynthia Leitich Smith, May 1, 2022.
By Cynthia
“Writing As Activism: A Collaborative Conversation,” The ALAN Review, Fall 2022. An in-depth interview by Cynthia Leitich Smith,
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Kid-friendly Bio
Cynthia Leitich Smith grew up in the Kansas City area. She has been a poet and a journalist since elementary school. As a teenager, she was the editor of her school newspaper. She went on to become the first person in her immediate family to earn a four-year college degree when she graduated from The University of Kansas.
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(Or… Why’d You Go to Law School Anyway?)
It’s not a bad question.
I’ve wondered once or twice myself.
After all, the experience did result in a decent amount of stress, lost sleep, and about seventy thousand dollars in student debt (though I did meet some of my best friends and learned I could compete academically on a national level).
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for Cynthia Leitich Smith
- 2021 Neustadt NSK Laureate (Winner of the NSK Prize for Children’s Literature)
- Austin chapter of SCBWI instituted the Cynthia Leitich Smith Mentor Award (2014)
- Spirit of Texas YA Author, chosen by the Texas Library Association (2012, 2013)
- Illumine Award Author, chosen by the Friends of the Austin Public Library (2013)
- 2001 Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers Writer of the Year
for JINGLE DANCER
- Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies and a Selector’s Choice for 2001
- Named to the 2001 2 x 2 Reading List of twenty books recommended for children ages two through second grade by the Texas Library Association
- Finalist,
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At the Illumine Award Banquet
Cynthia Leitich Smith is a bestselling, award-winning children’s-YA writer, writing teacher, and the author-curator of the Native-centered Heartdrum imprint at HarperCollins Children’s Books. She also is the 2021 NSK Neustadt Laureate.
Her 2023 release is HARVEST HOUSE, an Indigenous YA ghost mystery.
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Reading Group Guide for Blessed
BLESSED (Candlewick, 2011).
→ About BLESSED
→ Reading Group Guide: Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith: features introduction; excerpt; discussion questions; author biography; author interview; and acclaim. Quick-print format.
Reading Group Guide for Eternal
ETERNAL (Candlewick, 2008, 2010).
→ About ETERNAL
→ Reading Group Guide: Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith: features introduction;
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