Cynthia leitich smith instagram
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Cynthia Leitich Smith: Lifting Up Native American Voices
An enrolled citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Cynthia Leitich Smith has been writing across genres and categories since the 2000 publication of her debut picture book, Jingle Dancer, about a Muscogee girl in contemporary Oklahoma who wants to honor a family tradition by jingle dancing at a powwow. Rosemary Brosnan, who bought that first book and has been Smith’s editor at HarperCollins ever since, calls her “a trailblazer in writing Native children’s literature.”
Over the subsequent two decades, Smith has written realistic and speculative middle grade and YA fiction, in addition to essays and articles, and since 1998 has maintained the website Cynsations, which she describes as “a resource for the children’s and YA community, in which creators’ voices are centered.” An original (now honorary) advisory board member of We Need Diverse Books, for which she coordinates and leads the annual Native writing intensive, she also teaches at
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Cynthia Leitich Smith facts for kids
Cynthia Leitich Smith (born 1967) is a New York Times best-selling author of fiction for children and young adults.
A citizen of the Muscogee Creek Nation, she writes fiction for children and teens centered on the lives of modern-day Native Americans. These books are taught widely by teachers in elementary, middle school, high school, and college classrooms.
In addition, Smith writes fanciful, humorous picture books and gothic fantasies for ages 14-up. Regarded as an expert in children's-YA literature by the press, she also hosts a website for Children's Literature Resources.
Life
Smith, a graduate of the University of Kansas and The University of Michigan Law School, lives in Austin, Texas.
For nearly twenty years, Smith served on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults, where she held the inaugural Katherine Paterson Endowed Chair. Smith is also the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint of HarperCollins. She is published by Heartdrum and by Candlewick Press.
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Cynthia Leitich Smith
Muscogee-American writer
Cynthia Leitich Smith (born 1967) is a New York Times best-selling[1] author of fiction for children and young adults.
A citizen of the Muscogee Creek Nation, she writes fiction for children and teens centered on the lives of modern-day Native Americans.[2] These books are taught widely by teachers in elementary, middle school, high school, and college classrooms.[3][4][5]
In addition, Smith writes fanciful, humorous picture books and gothic fantasies for ages 14-up.[6] Regarded as an expert in children's-YA literature by the press, she also hosts a website for Children's Literature Resources.[7]
Life
Smith, a graduate of the University of Kansas and The University of Michigan Law School, lives in Austin, Texas.[8]
For over twenty years, Smith served on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults, where she held the inaugural Katherine Paterson Endowed Chair.[9] Smith is
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