Brazos Valley Children’s Literary Festival: Open a Book, Open a World

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, Emmy-winning producer and #1 New York Times bestselling author of 40 books, including This Is The Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets, Why Fathers Cry at Night, An American Story, The Door of No Return, Becoming Muhammad Ali (co-authored with James Patterson), Rebound, which was shortlisted for the prestigious UK Carnegie Medal, and The Undefeated, the National Book Award nominee, Newbery Honor, and Caldecott Medal-winning picture book illustrated by Kadir Nelson.

Kwame is also the Emmy-winning Executive Producer, Showrunner, and Writer of The Crossover TV series, based on his Newbery-Medal winning novel of the same name, which premiered on Disney+ in April 2023. The series was produced in partnership with LeBron James’ SpringHill Company and Big Sea Entertainment, Kwame’s production company that is dedicated to creating innovative, highly original children’s and family entertainment. Other current projects in development at Big Sea include America’s Next Great Author, the groundbreaking reality television series for writers.

A regular contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, Kwame is the creator and host of the Why Fathers Cry podcast, premiering September 2023, featuring conversations about love and parenting and loss, with fathers and sons. He regularly shares his passion for literacy, books and the craft of writing around the world at events like the Chautauqua Lecture Series, the Edinburgh Book Festival, Aspen Ideas, and the Global Literacy Symposium in Ghana, where he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana. Most recently he was appointed the Rudell Artistic Director of Literary Arts and Writer-in-Residence at the Chautauqua Institution.

His mission is to change the world, one word at a time.

B.W. Van Alstyne is a navy veteran who enjoys weaving together fantasy and folklore in his stories for children and adults. Not only did he learn about various local folk tales and mythology during his travels, but he also was a chef, enjoying making all kinds of sweet treats, which he includes in his stories too! When he’s not writing you can find him making memories with his son who is on the Autism Spectrum, who his board book “Under the Crescent Moon” was written for.

Although Susan loves to write about long-ago and faraway places, she can’t bring those worlds to life without grounding them in the details of this one.  To that end, she has explored lava tubes and sea caves; spent the night in a lighthouse; traveled along the Silk Road in Iran; ridden in a glider, on a camel, and on a donkey; and cut up (already dead!) baby chicks and mice for a gyrfalcon’s dinner.  To research Journey of the Pale Bear, she explored the grounds of the Tower of London and went backstage at the Oregon Zoo, where, standing inches away, she watched polar bears Tasul and Conrad lip grapes from their keepers’ open palms.

Journey of the Pale Bear, Susan’s 12^th book, is a Golden Kite Honor book.  Her other novels include the Dragon Chronicles series; Shadow Spinner, which has been translated into eight languages; and Alphabet of Dreams. 

Susan taught for many years in the M.F.A. in Writing for Children program at Vermont College. She lives in Bryan, Texas with her husband, historian R.J.Q. Adams, and their dog, Neville

Sherry Garland is the award-winning author of more than thirty books for children, teens and adults. She has lived in various parts of Texas, which have inspired some of her stories.  Several of her books focus on Vietnam thanks to creating many friendships with Vietnamese families while she was in Houston.  She also loves American History and is the author of the Voices of History picture book series.  Sherry says “I believe that although our clothes, language, and foods are different, inside our hearts, humans are the same everywhere — and have been throughout all time.”

Van is the winner of the 2020 “The Poetry Question Chapbook Contest” for his book, Scrap. He is also the winner of the 2017 “Best Book of African American Poetry” for his book, 49: Wings and Prayers as announced by the Texas Association of Authors. The author of thirteen books, Van G. Garrett’s debut picture book, Kicks, an ode to the flyest shoes and those who wear them, was published in 2022 and his second picture book, Juneteenth, was published in 2023. As an artist and author, his poetry has been published in journals and anthologies in the United States, Africa, Switzerland, Turkey and London.

Mary Mize is one of the founding members of the local writing group “Brazos Valley Society for Children’s Bookwriters and Illustrators”, and has been in the book industry for 25 years.  She enjoys writing and being able to pass on knowledge to children to help them learn and grow.  In her spare time Mary enjoys “finding joy in the small things in my life”.  She is currently working on her seventh book, but still loves to help new writers find their way in the writing world.