KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Newbery Medal-Winning Author of "Number the Stars" & "The Giver"

NYT Bestselling Novelist Known for "Crank"

Newbery Medal-Winning Children's Book Author Known for "The Watsons Go To Birmingham 1963"; First African-American Man to Win the Newberry Medal

Writer & Social Activist Known for Her Work on Issues of Race & Identity; NYT Bestselling Author of "So You Want to Talk About Race"

YA Novelist; Known for Author of "Deepfake," "Backlash," "Some Kind of Hate"

Award-Winning Literary Advocate, Author & Founder of Well-Read Black Girl; Host of the "Well-Read" Podcast

New York Times Best Selling Author, Award-Winning Children's Musician & Original Author of the "Pete the Cat" Series

Children's Books Author & Illustrator Known for "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"

Authors of the Children's Book Series "Dork Diaries" & "The Misadventures of Max Crumbly"

Contemporary Crime & Supernatural Fiction Author, Known for "The Ridge" & "An Honest Man"

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet & Former Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress; Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Virginia

Award-Winning Children's Author & Anti-Bullying Advocate; Colorado Authors' Hall of Fame Inductee

New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year Author; Children's Book Illustrator; Non-Fiction Author

Award-Winning Christian Cowboy Rancher & Author; Best Known for his Classic Children’s Series, "Hank the Cowdog"

NYT Best-Selling Author & Podcaster Known for "All About Lulu," "Lawn Boy" & "Again and Again"

Best-Selling Author Known for "Call Me by Your Name"; Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature

Founder of Backstage Capital & Venture Capitalist; Author & Tech Inclusion Activist

Author, Storyteller & Speaker Known for his "Chet Gecko" Chapter Book Series and "Clark the Shark" Picture Books

Writer, Filmmaker; Black Studies Scholar & Founder of BYP100

NAACP Image Award Nominee. Author of "The True Definition of Neva Beane"