Presenters for 2011 programs
Anjie Kokan is an internationally published and award-winning writer who has worked with writers of all ages in a variety of venues, including the Carroll Academy, the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater’s High School Creative Writing Festival, Wisconsin libraries, and public and private schools in Wisconsin and Illinois. Her work has Read more…
Born and raised in Indiana, JoLynne Ricker Whalen graduated from Purdue University with a B.A. degree in elementary education. A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), she has published stories in Highlights for Children, Children’s Digest, and Hob-Nob. Her story “Belly Flops and Gutter Balls” Read more…
Liz Rhodebeck of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, is a freelance writer and regular contributor for Lake Country Publications in Hartland, WI. She has published poetry in state and national journals including The Penwood Review, Margie, Verse Wisconsin, Evangel, Wisconsin Academy Review and others. Her latest poetry chapbook is What I Learned in Read more…
Mary Helen Stefaniak’s second novel, The Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia (W. W. Norton), has been awarded a 2011 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction. The Anisfield-Wolf awards “recognize books that have made important contributions to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures.” Juror Rita Read more…
James Klise is the author of LOVE DRUGGED, published by Flux Books in September 2010. This debut novel received a 2011 Stonewall Honor Award, and also was selected for the 2011 ALA Rainbow List. Booklist called LOVE DRUGGED “an excellent novel for both classroom and GSA discussion,” and VOYA suggested Read more…
Scott Stoll asked himself a question: “If I could do anything, what would I do?” His answer resulted in a quest for happiness and the meaning of life around the world on a bicycle (25,742 miles, 4 years, 50 countries, 6 continents & 4 moments of enlightenment.) His adventures are Read more…
Raised in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, William Kent Krueger briefly attended Stanford University–before being kicked out for radical activities. After that, he logged timber, worked construction, tried his hand at free-lance journalism, and eventually ended up researching child development at the University of Minnesota. He currently makes his living Read more…
Denise Swanson is the New York Times bestselling author of the Scumble River mystery series. After coming face-to-face with evil, Denise quickly decided she would rather write about villains than encounter them in her daily life. She was shocked to discover that getting a book published was nearly as difficult Read more…
Anthony and Barry Award winning author Julie Hyzy writes two mystery series: the White House Chef Mysteries (the fourth title in the series, Buffalo West Wing, came out in January), and the Manor House Mysteries (the second title in that series, Grace Interrupted, just came out this month!). Julie lives in the Chicago area Read more…
Robert Root is the author of two works of creative nonfiction, Recovering Ruth: A Biographer’s Tale and Following Isabella: Travels in Colorado Then and Now, and the editor of Landscapes with Figures: The Nonfiction of Place. He is also the co-editor of The Fourth Genre, a textbook now in its Read more…