Author-speaker and writing-teacher event inquiries and invitations for Cynthia Leitich Smith should be directed to Carmen Oliver at The Booking Biz.
Cynthia actively supports equity and inclusivity in the world of books and beyond, and she enjoys participating in events created using the same approach. She is not available for any events that discriminate against marginalized or underrepresented people, either on the page or off. This includes any non-Native/non-tribal schools with “Indian mascots.” For context, please read the WNDB definition of diversity.
Cynthia Leitich Smith is a New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestselling children’s-YA author, the author curator of the Heartdrum imprint at HarperCollins Children’s Books, the 2024 Southern Mississippi Medallion Winner for Outstanding Contributions to Children’s Literature, the 2021 NSK Neustadt Laureate, and the inaugural Katherine Paterson Endowed Chair in the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She was named Writer of the Year in 2001 for her debut novel RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME by Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers.
Cynthia has been featured as a children’s-YA author/speaker at the National Indian Education Association “Meet the Authors” Webinar, Publishers Weekly Book Show, Kweli: The Color of Children’s Literature Conference, the Eric Carle Museum, the National Women’s History Museum, the Anti-Defamation League, the Texas Teen Book Festival, the Texas Book Festival, the Tucson Book Festival, the Gaithersburg Book Festival, the National Book Festival, the Virginia Hamilton Conference, the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers, the Bank Street Book Festival, and the SCBWI annual conference as well as at bookstores, elementary/middle/high schools, public libraries (including the New York Public Library, Austin Public Library, and Chicago Public Library), numerous universities, and at conferences of such organizations as: PBS Books, American Booksellers Association (Children’s Institute), the Kansas Association of School Librarians, the Massachusetts School Library Association, the Texas Library Association, Wisconsin State Reading Association, the American Library Association, the American Indian Library Association, the International Literacy Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, The Association of Writers and Writing Programs, etc.
She also has been featured as a children’s-YA writing teacher at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, Highlights Foundation workshops, the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers conference, the Writing Barn, the Writers’ League of Texas, various SCBWI regional chapters, etc., and she is a member of the faculty of the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Cynthia is the program director of the We Need Diverse Books Native Children’s-YA Writing Intensive.