Founders Workshop Faculty

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• Past Founders Workshop Faculty

ANDY BOYLES
Andy is the science editor at Highlights magazine and its trade book division, Boyds Mills Press. He used to write about psychiatry and molecules at medical centers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Galveston, Texas. But he doesn’t have to do that anymore—not since he joined Highlights sixteen years ago. For both Highlights and Boyds Mills Press, Andy works to acquire articles and books that (1) help kids develop a deep, lasting connection with nature or (2) show that science is an ongoing, self-correcting process as opposed to a collection of facts or (3) both. Some of his book projects include Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator (Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor) and Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature, both by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell; What Bluebirds Do (John Burroughs List of Nature Books for Young Readers, Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12) by Pamela Kirby; Planet Hunter by Vicki Wittenstein; and Cicadas! Strange and Wonderful by Laurence Pringle. Andy is a member of the National Association of Science Writers, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the National Science Teachers Association.

Workshop: A Crash Course in the Business of Children's Publishing

Carolyn Coman

CAROLYN COMAN
Carolyn Coman’s acclaimed novels for children and young adults include The Big House, Many Stones (National Book Award finalist and a 2001 Michael L. Printz Honor book), Bee and Jacky, What Jamie Saw (National Book Award finalist and Newbery Honor book), and Tell Me Everything. She has taught fiction writing at Harvard Extension, Harvard Summer School, and the Chautauqua Institute. For eight years she was a faculty member of the Vermont College MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults Program, and is currently on the faculty of Hamline University’s new MFA program.

Workshop: Whole Novel Workshop (November 2010)
Workshop: Whole Novel Workshop (June 2011)

JOËLLE DUJARDIN
Joëlle is a senior editor at Highlights magazine. She began her career in children’s publishing at Henry Holt and Company. She then spent several years at Carus Publishing Company, where she divided her time between Cricket Books and various nonfiction magazines, including Ask, Muse, and Faces. Joëlle joined the Highlights staff in September 2004 and currently edits all of the fiction in the magazine.

Workshop: A Crash Course in the Business of Children's Publishing

CANDACE FLEMING
Candace is an award-winning author of numerous books for children. She discovered the joy and music of children’s books by reading aloud to her two sons. Her award winners include Ben Franklin's Almanac, an ALA Notable Book and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; Our Eleanor, a 2005 School Library Journal Best Book; Boxes for Katje, Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year 2003; Boston Globe Horn Book Award for nonfiction winner The Lincolns, and most recently, The Great And Only Barnum was named a finalist for this year's YALSA Excellence In Nonfiction Award, as well as Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!; Gabriella's Song; and When Agnes Caws—all ALA Notable Books. Read more about Candace at www.candacefleming.com.

Workshop: Picture This: Writing and Illustrating Picture Books

PATRICIA LEE GAUCH
Former vice president and editor at large of Philomel Books, Patti is now a fulltime writer and lecturer. She has authored more than 40 picture books and novels for young readers, including the highly acclaimed Thunder at Gettysburg; This Time, Tempe Wick?; and Christina Katerina and the Box. Her most recent title, The Knitting of Elizabeth Amelia, was published in fall 2009.

Patti holds a doctorate in English literature and has taught children’s literature on the college level and reviewed for the New York Times. Patti has edited three Caldecott books, including Owl Moon by Jane Yolen and John Schoenherr and So You Want to Be President? by Judith St. George and David Small. She has worked with many well-known authors and artists, including Eric Carle, Patricia Polacco, Brian Jacques, Andrew Clements, T.A. Barron, and Loren Long.

Workshop: Starting Your Novel
Workshop: Heart of the Novel Part I
Workshop: Heart of the Novel Part II

lindsay barrett george
Lindsay Barrett George was born in the West Indies and grew up in New Jersey. She received a BFA degree from Manhattanville College and an MFA degree from the University of Wisconsin, where she majored in drawing and printmaking. After her studies in the Midwest, Lindsay returned to the East Coast and worked as a fine-art printer in New York City. She later got a job in publishing and worked as a designer in a children’s book department. Lindsay left New York City, had two children, and now spends her time creating children’s books.

Lindsay’s published works include the popular "Who's Been Here?" books from Greenwillow: Around the Pond: Who’s Been Here?; Around the World: Who’s Been Here?; In the Snow: Who’s Been Here?; and In the Woods: Who’s Been Here? Her most recent books include The Secret; Inside Mouse, Outside Mouse; Alfred Digs and Maggie's Ball. Lindsay has also coauthored and illustrated Beaver at Long Pond and illustrated Box Turtle at Long Pond.

Workshop: It's All About Character

TIM GILLNER
As the Boyds Mills Press art director, Tim is directly responsible for the design and art direction of all Boyds Mills Press books. Tim has taught book illustration at Marywood University for the past five years. He is a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the Society of Illustrators in New York City.

Workshop: A Crash Course in the Business of Children's Publishing

KIM T. GRISWELL
Kim is a senior editor for Highlights, Inc. and works with the Highlights Foundation and Boyds Mills Press. She served as the coordinating editor of Highlights for six years and Highlights High Five for a year. Her work in the children’s literature field has spanned the worlds of publishing and teaching, leading her to positions as senior editor of Bookbag magazine, book development manager for The Mailbox Book Company, a university and community college instructor, and a teacher with the Institute of Children’s Literature. She holds master’s degrees in teaching writing and in literature from Humboldt State University. She has taught writing workshops across the country on such topics as Focusing Nonfiction, Mystery Writing, Creating a Sense of Place, Writing for Children’s Magazines, Nature as Muse, and The Hero’s Journey. A prolific writer and committed editor, Kim has published more than two hundred short stories, articles, and columns. Her books include Carnivorous Plants, Nonfiction Reading Practice (Grade 3), and many stories in the four-book series, Short Short Stories for Reading Aloud. In 2008, Kim was awarded a two-month writing residency at the Sitka Center for Arts and Ecology in Oregon. www.kimgriswell.com.

Workshop: Finding Your Voice
Workshop: A Crash Course in the Business of Children's Publishing
Workshop: Nonfiction Storytelling
Workshop: It's All About Character

DAvid Harrison
David’s first book for children, The Boy with a Drum, was released in 1969 and eventually sold more than two million copies. In 1972, David won national recognition when he received the Christopher Award for The Book of Giant Stories. Since then David has published seventy-seven original titles that have sold more than fifteen million copies and earned numerous honors. He has been anthologized in more than one hundred books and has appeared in dozens of magazines and professional journals. His work has been translated into twelve languages and presented on television, radio, cassette, and CD-ROM. David’s SKY HIGH ON READING program was the International Reading Association’s nationwide winner in 2001, and in 2007 the Missouri Librarian Association presented him with its Literacy Award for the body of his work. In the last fifteen years, David has been a keynote speaker, banquet speaker, featured speaker, featured author, or presenter at eighty state, regional, and national conferences in twenty-seven states.

Workshop: Somebody Ought to Write a Poem

DEBRA HESS
Debra joined Highlights for Children as a Senior Editor in June, 2009. She is the author of numerous fiction and nonfiction books for children, including Thurgood Marshall, the Fight for Equal Justice, a NY Public Library Best Books for the Teenage, and Wilson Sat Alone, an acclaimed picture book that was made into a PBS Storytime Special. Debra was Editorial director of Weekly Reader Custom Publishing, Editor of Scholastic News, and Senior Editor at Scholastic Library Publishing. She has been published by Simon and Schuster, Harper Collins, Hyperion and Harcourt.

Workshop: A Crash Course in the Business of Children's Publishing

JOAN HYMAN
Joan is the copyeditor for Boyds Mills Press, Highlights for Children, and Highlights High Five. She edits select poetry projects for Wordsong--the poetry imprint of Boyds Mills Press. She has edited Jane Yolen’s poetry books for the Wordsong imprint since 1991, in addition to titles by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Eileen Spinelli, and Milton Meltzer. During that time, she has also managed other editorial projects at Highlights for Children, Inc., including Hidden Pictures® books, puzzle books, and craft books.

Workshop: A Crash Course in the Business of Children's Publishing

barbara kerley
Barbara is an award-winning author whose work includes the Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book What To Do About Alice?; the Notable Social Studies Trade Book A Little Peace; the Sibert Honor Book Walt Whitman, Words for America; and the Caldecott Honor Book The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, illustrated by Brian Selznick. She has also published nonfiction articles in Highlights and Cricket magazines. Visit Barbara’s Web site at www.barbarakerley.com.

Workshop: Nonfiction Storytelling

LIZA KETCHUM
Liza is the author of fifteen books for young readers, including the historical novels Newsgirl and Where the Great Hawk Flies, winner of the Massachusetts Book Award. Her interest in the American pioneer experience has resulted in the novels Orphan Journey Home and West Against the Wind, and the nonfiction books The Gold Rush and Into a New Country. Liza has also published contemporary fiction for middle-grade readers, as well as a quartet of connected young-adult novels; Blue Coyote, the final novel in the sequence, was nominated for a Lamda Book Award.

Liza is currently on the faculty of the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Hamline University; she also teaches writing at the ASTAL Institute at Rhode Island College. Liza says, “No matter where we are, as writers, we share the creative journey—and learn from one another—when we come together in a workshop setting.”

Workshop: Whole Novel Workshop for Historical Fiction

MARTINE LEAVITT
Martine is the author of Dragon’s Tapestry (1992), Prism Moon (1993), Taker’s Key (1998), and The Dollmage (2001). Tom Finder (2003) was the winner of the Mr. Christie Award, and Heck Superhero (2004) was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award. Her most recent book, Keturah and Lord Death, was a finalist for the National Book Award and was a Booklist top ten in the categories of fantasy, romance, and women’s history books for youth. Leavitt has a BA from the University of Calgary and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is a member of the faculty there. The creative projects she is most proud of are her seven children and nine grandchildren, all of whom have been critically acclaimed.

Workshop: Whole Novel Workshop (November 2010)

ELLEN LEVINE
Ellen Levine has written twenty books for young people, including Catch a Tiger by the Toe, a novel that takes place during the McCarthy period; Freedom’s Children, a nonfiction book about the civil rights movement; Journal of Jedediah Barstow, an Oregon Trail adventure; and A Fence Away from Freedom, about the Japanese-American internment. Darkness Over Denmark, the story of the Danish Resistance and the rescue of the Jews during World War II, won the Trudi Birger Prize (Jerusalem International Book Fair), Golden Kite Award, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Jane Addams Honor Book, and was a National Jewish Book Award finalist. Ellen’s picture book, Henry’s Freedom Box, based on a true story of the Underground Railroad, was a 2008 Caldecott Honor book. Many of her books, both fiction and nonfiction, deal with issues of social justice and equality.

Ellen is a lapsed lawyer, has worked in television and film, is a woodcarver, and has been on the faculty at Vermont College's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

Workshop: Whole Novel Workshop for Historical Fiction

LORI RIES
Lori wrote her first book—Super Sam—at the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop at Chautauqua. Published by Charlesbridge, Super Sam soon led to other books, and Lori was on her way as a children’s writer. Lori’s books have been recognized as outstanding by Horn Book, Parenting Magazine, Nick Jr. Family Magazine, and Bank Street College. Her chapter book Aggie and Ben, Three Stories (Charlesbridge) was a 2006/2007 Oregon Book Award Finalist. Her most recent books include Punk Wig (Boyds Mills Press) and Good Dog, Aggie (due from Charlesbridge in 2009). Lori has given many school presentations and has taught workshops.

Find out more about Lori at www.loriries.net.

Workshop: Writing from the Heart: A Guided Writers' Retreat

ERIC ROHMANN
Both an author and an illustrator, Eric was awarded the 2003 Caldecott Medal for My Friend Rabbit. The Caldecott Medal is given to the illustrator of the “most distinguished American Picture Book for Children published in the United States” in that year. Eric’s first book for children, Time Flies, was a Caldecott Honor book for 1995. Also a painter and printmaker, Eric earned fine arts degrees from Arizona State University and Illinois State University. His other picture books include The Cinder-Eyed Cats, Pumpkinhead, The Prairie Train, Clara and Asha, and his latest, A Kitten Tale.

Workshop: Picture This: Writing and Illustrating Picture Books

LARRY ROSLER
Larry is the editorial director of Boyds Mills Press, where he has broad responsibilities for acquiring manuscripts and developing them for publication. Before coming to Boyds Mills Press, Larry was a manager of New Morning Books and worked for Henry Holt and Company, first in marketing and later in editorial on both adult and juvenile titles.

Workshop: A Crash Course in the Business of Children's Publishing

STEPHEN ROXBURGH
Stephen has been involved with children’s books and publishing for more than thirty-six years, first as an academic, then as senior vice president and publisher, Books for Young Readers, at Farrar, Straus and Giroux; and as the president and publisher of Front Street Books, a small, independent press he founded on April 1, 1994. In 2004 Front Street was acquired by Boyds Mills Press, where Stephen was publisher until September 2008. In January, 2009, Stephen founded namelos llc, a publishing company based on a new business model.

Stephen has worked with such authors and artists as Felicia Bond, Nancy Eckholm Burkert, Brock Cole, Carolyn Coman, Roald Dahl, Donna Diamond, Madeleine L’Engle, Martine Leavitt, Patricia McCormick, An Na, Marilyn Nelson, Adam Rapp, Alvin Schwartz, George Selden, Uri Shulevitz, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Garth Williams, and Margot Zemach.

Stephen lectures and publishes widely on children's literature and children's publishing. He is on the faculty of the Highlights Foundation. For many years he was on the faculty of the Radcliffe Publishing Program, the Stanford Publishing Program, and the Columbia Publishing Program.

Workshop: Editing for Writers (October 2010)
Workshop: Editing for Writers (November 2011)

LAURA RUBY
Laura is the author of the children's mystery Lily’s Ghosts, the children’s fantasy The Wall and the Wing, and a sequel, The Chaos King. She also writes contemporary fiction for older teens, and her debut young-adult novel, Good Girls, was a Book Sense Pick for fall 2006 and an ALA Quick Pick for 2007. Her books have been nominated for the Edgar Award, the Carnegie Medal, and ALA Best Books for Young Adults, and have been included on the Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best list and the New York Public Library's Best Books for the Teen Age list.

Laura has been a featured speaker at BookExpo, the American Library Association’s annual convention, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) annual convention, the Miami Book Festival, the Florida Association of Media Educators (FAME) convention, the Midwest Literary Festival, the International Reading Association’s annual convention, and the Illinois Reading Council annual conference, among other venues, and she has presented programs and workshops for both adults and children at numerous schools and libraries.

Workshop: Whole Novel Workshop for Fantasy

ANNE URSU
Anne is the author of The Shadow Thieves, The Siren Song, and The Immortal Fire, all fantasies for young readers. She has also written two books for adults, as well as articles for Glamour, Salon.com, The Washington Post Book World, and ESPN.com. Her books have been finalists for Borders Original Voices Award, selected for Barnes and Noble's Discover Great New Writers program, and for the New York Public Library’s Best Books for the Teen Age. She teaches at Hamline University’s Low Residency MFA in Writing for Children.

Workshop: Whole Novel Workshop for Fantasy

RICH WALLACE
Rich is the author of a number of acclaimed novels for young adults, including Playing Without the Ball, Wrestling Sturbridge, Shots on Goal, Restless, and One Good Punch. His most recent novels are Dishes and Perpetual Check. He has also authored a short-story collection called Losing Is Not an Option and a series of sports novels for middle-grade readers called Winning Season. His columns, profiles, and other features have been published in Highlights, Track and Field News, Runner's World, and other publications. Rich is a former senior editor at Highlights for Children.

Workshop: Writing Novels for Young Adults (October 2010)

CLAY WINTERS
Clay is president of Boyds Mills Press and has been in publishing since 1960. Before coming to Boyds Mills Press, he was president of Putnam/Grosset Books for Young Readers, the children's book group of G.P. Putnam & Sons. Clay has introduced the rudiments of publishing to aspiring writers and has taught a maketing course for entrepreneurs for several different institutions.

Workshop: A Crash Course in the Business of Children's Publishing

CAROLYN P. YODER
Carolyn is currently editor of Calkins Creek Books—the U.S. history imprint of Boyds Mills Press. Calkins Creek specializes in nonfiction and historical fiction picture books, chapter books, and novels. Carolyn is also the senior editor of history for Highlights for Children. She has written numerous articles on research and writing history for children and is the author of John Adams: The Writer; Becoming George Washington; and George Washington: The Writer. Carolyn spent a decade serving as the award-winning editor in chief of Cobblestone: The History Magazine for Young People; Calliope; Faces; and Odyssey, which led to her position as assistant publisher of Cobblestone Publishing, Inc., overseeing development of its book division. She has been a writer and an editor for the New Jersey Historical Society and the executive director of the New Hampshire Antiquarian Society. A free-lance editor and writer, she lives in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

Workshop: Nonfiction - It's More Than Just the Facts!
Workshop: Carolyn Yoder Alumni Writers' Retreat (February 26, 2011)
Workshop: Carolyn Yoder Alumni Writers' Retreat (August 20, 2011)