SCBWI Podcasts

In this week's episode we are joined by Lala Watkins. Lala Watkins is an author-illustrator extraordinaire whose work is like a summer pool party and everyone’s invited! She graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design and Interactive Communications from Ringling College of Art & Design. Her books have received numerous starred reviews, been selected as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard choi...

In this week's episode we are joined by Winsome Bingham! Winsome Bingham is a soul food connoisseur, master cook, and a US Army war and disabled veteran. She received both bachelor's and master's degrees in education and has more than 15 years of teaching experience. You can find her writing on a deck while waiting patiently with a camera to capture a submarine shooting out of the w...

In this week's episode we are joined by London Ladd. London Ladd is an award-winning illustrator whose work has been featured in prestigious publications, including HarperCollins, Philomel Books, The New York Times, and Scientific American, as well as in community murals. Utilizing a distinctive mixed-media technique that combines acrylic paint, cut paper, and tissue paper, the artist brings...

In this week's episode we are joined by James Ponti! James Ponti is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of four Middle Grade book series, including City Spies and The Sherlock Society . His novels have been named to more than seventy state award lists, translated into sixteen languages, and sold over one million copies. City Spies has been optioned by Amazon MGM Studios for de...

In this week's episode we are joined by Regina Brooks! Ms. Regina Brooks is the founder and CEO of Serendipity Literary Agency in New York, New York. Her agency is the largest African American owned agency in the country and has represented and established a diverse base of award-winning clients in adult and young adult fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature. Her authors have appeared...

In this week's episode we are joined by Dr. Seema Yasmin Seema Yasmin is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, medical doctor, professor and the author of five books and three forthcoming books. She is director of the Stanford Health Communication Initiative, clinical assistant professor in Stanford University’s Department of Medicine, and visiting professor at the Anderson School of Management a...

In this week's episode we are joined by Claudia Rueda.  Claudia Rueda is a Colombian author and a New York Times Best Seller illustrator of over thirty picture books. Rueda's books have been published in the United States, Mexico, and Spain and have been translated into seventeen different languages. She’s a 2016 Hans Christian Andersen and Astrid Lindgren Awards nominee. Claudia went to...

In this week's episode we are joined by Torrey Maldonado. Torrey Maldonado was born and raised in Brooklyn, growing up in the Red Hook housing projects. He has been a teacher for New York City public schools for nearly 25 years and his fast-paced, compelling stories are inspired by his and his students’ experiences. His popular novels for young readers include What Lane? , which garnered many...

In this week's episode we are joined by Jason Reynolds. Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of many award-winning books, including Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks , All American Boys (with Brendan Kiely), Long Way Down , Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (with Ibram X. Kendi), Stuntboy, in the Meantime (illustrated by Raúl the Third), and Ain’t Burned All the...

In this week's episode we are joined by Selina Alko.  Selina Alko is an award-winning author and illustrator known for blending lyrical storytelling with vibrant mixed-media art. Raised in Vancouver by a Turkish Jewish father and Jewish mother, she grew up immersed in culture, creativity, and diverse perspectives that continue to shape her work. Selina has a degree in art history from Univers...

In this week's episode of the SCBWI Podcast we are joined by Kate DiCamillo! In her own words, here is her bio: "I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, raised in Clermont, Florida, and currently live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I write for both children and adults and I like to think of myself as a storyteller. Here are a few more facts about me: I am short. And loud. I hate to cook an...

In this week's episode we are joined by Shannon Messenger.  Shannon Messenger graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts where she learned—among other things—that she liked watching movies much better than making them. She’s studied art, screenwriting, and television production, but realized her real passion was writing for kids and teens. She’s the internationally, New York Times, and U...

In this week's episode, we welcome back Dan Gutman! New York Times best-selling and award-winning author Dan Gutman has written more than 190 books for readers from kindergarten through middle school. Dan’s My Weird School series includes 100+ titles, and has sold more than 35 million copies globally over the past 20 years. Dan also is the author of the best-selling Genius Files series, the B...

Rachel Renée Russell is the author of the #1 New York Times Best Selling book series, Dork Diaries which has spent 331 weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers list for Children’s Series. She’s an attorney who prefers writing Tween books to legal briefs mainly because books are a lot more fun, and pajama pants and bunny slippers aren’t allowed in federal court. Rachel first introduced us to Nikki M...

In this week's episode we are joined by Avery Fischer Udagawa Avery Fischer Udagawa grew up in Kansas and studied English and Asian Studies at St. Olaf College in Minnesota. She holds an MA in Advanced Japanese Studies from The University of Sheffield. She has studied at Nanzan University, Nagoya, on a Fulbright Fellowship, and at the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies, Yok...

In this week's episode we are joined by SCBWI Golden Kite Winner Ann Bausum.  ANN BAUSUM has written nine National Geographic books for young readers during the past 12 years. Her publication list features six works of social justice history, two presidential history reference books, and a photobiography. She has won numerous awards, including a Sibert Honor Award from the American Library As...

In this episode, we are joined by author/illustrator Suzanne Kaufman. SUZANNE KAUFMAN is an author, illustrator, and animator. Over the years she's done everything from animating special effects for Universal Television and the Discovery Channel to animating award-winning video games for children. She's the illustrator of a number of children's books, including Samanthasaurus Rex by...

In this week's episode of the SCBWI Podcast, we are joined by Nova Ren Suma! Nova Ren Suma is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling The Walls Around Us and A Room Away from the Wolves , which were both finalists for the Edgar Award. She also wrote Imaginary Girls and 17 & Gone and co-edited the story & craft anthology Foreshadow: Stories to Celebrate the Magic of Reading and...

In this week's episode of the SCBWI Podcast we are joined by Kate Messner.  New York Times bestselling author Kate Messner is passionately curious and writes books that encourage kids to wonder, too. Kate's titles include both fiction and nonfiction; she writes award-winning picture books, easy readers, chapter book series, and novels for young readers. Her books are frequently nominated...

In this weeks episode we are joined by Barbara McClintock! Barbara McClintock is an American illustrator and author of over 40 books for children. Her books have received numerous awards and citations, including five New York Times Best Illustrated Picture Book Awards , four ALA Notable Book Citations , a Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Award , a China Times Best Illustrated Books Award , and a Briti...

This week we are joined by author Kyle Lukoff and illustrator Levi Hastings!  From Newbery Honor and Stonewall Book Award–winning author Kyle Lukoff and celebrated picture book illustrator Levi Hastings comes an “approachable, engaging” ( Publishers Weekly , starred review) picture book about how people found community in a time when they had to keep their true selves secret. “Are you a friend of...

In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast we are joined by Donna Barba Higuera! Donna grew up in Central California surrounded by agricultural and oil fields. As a child, rather than dealing with the regular dust devils, she preferred spending recess squirreled away in the janitor’s closet with a good book. Her favorite hobbies were calling dial-a-story over and over again, and sneaking into a restrict...

In this episode of the SCBWI Podcast we are joined by Maria van Lieshout! Maria is a Dutch-American illustrator and graphic novelist. She was born and raised near Amsterdam, and studied Visual Communications at George Washington University in DC. Maria has illustrated and written 15 picture books for kids. Her graphic novel Song of a Blackbird is inspired by historic events, including those that a...

In this episode of the podcast we are joined by Maggie Tokuda-Hall ! Maggie Tokuda-Hall has an MFA in creative writing from USF, and BA in art from Scripps College. She’s the author of numerous award winning, best-selling children’s and young adult books including Love in the Library, The Mermaid the Witch and The Sea duology, Squad, and The Worst Ronin. She has been called “... one of the most un...

In this episode we are joined by Erin Entrada Kelly ! Erin Entrada Kelly has received numerous awards and recognition for her work, including the 2025 Newbery Medal for The First State of Being, 2018 Newbery Medal for Hello, Universe , a 2021 Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space , the 2023 NAIBA Book of the Year Award for Those Kids From Fawn Creek , and 2017 APALA Award for The Land of Forgotten G...