John Coy
John Coy is the author of young adult novels, chapter books, and fiction and nonfiction picture books. He has received numerous awards for his work and loves working with students to celebrate reading and writing. He lives by the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.
Shannon Gibney
Shannon Gibney is an award-winning author of books of all kinds — from novels to anthologies to essays to picture books. She writes for adults, children, and everyone in-between.
The through-line in all her work is stories that may have previously gone untold. Sometimes these perspectives have remained hidden because the speakers have not had an outlet for their stories; other times, the stories carry darkness and fear that we prefer to look away from.
Molly Beth Griffin
Molly Beth Griffin is the author of several picture books including The Big Leaf Leap, Ten Beautiful Things and Rhoda's Rock Hunt. She has also written a YA novel, Silhouette of a Sparrow, and the School Sidekicks series of beginning readers. She is a graduate of Hamline University's MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults and a teaching artist at The Loft Literary Center. In addition to critiquing manuscripts, mentoring emerging writers, and hosting a monthly Picture Book Salon, Molly enjoys walking around lakes, taking pictures of birds, eating pastries, and waiting for the mail. She lives in South Minneapolis with her partner and their two kids.
Naomi Kritzer
Naomi Kritzer has been writing science fiction and fantasy for over twenty years; her fiction has won the Hugo Award, the Lodestar Award, the Edgar Award, and the Minnesota Book Award. Her newest book, LIBERTY'S DAUGHTER, will be coming out in November. She lives in St. Paul. You can find Naomi online at naomikritzer.com or on Twitter and Bluesky as @naomikritzer.
Mindy Mejia
Mindy Mejia is a CPA, the president of the midwestern chapter of Mystery Writers of America, and a graduate of the Hamline University MFA program. She lives in the Twin Cities with her family and is the author of Strike Me Down, Everything You Want Me to Be, and Leave No Trace. To Catch a Storm, her latest thriller, is on sale now.
Sun Yung Shin
Sun Yung Shin is the editor of A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota and two other anthologies of essays. She is the author of four books of poetry, most recently The Wet Hex which won the Midland Authors Award for Poetry and was a 2022 finalist for a Minnesota Book Award, and is also the author or co-author of two illustrated books for children—most recently Where We Come From, which was a 2022 finalist for a Minnesota Book Award. She has been awarded fellowships from the MacDowell Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, the McKnight Foundation, the Bush Foundation, the Jerome Foundation. She is currently a teaching artist with the Loft and the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop.
