Authors
Participating Authors
The author and their book.
Angelica Shirley Carpenter
Angelica Shirley Carpenter writes picture books and biographies for young readers. Recent titles include The Voice of Liberty (North Dakota Historical Society Press, 2020) and The Secret Gardens of Frances Hodgson Burnett (Bushel & Peck, 2024). Her next book will be Arm in Arm: The Grimké Sisters’ Fight for Abolition and Women’s Rights, a young adult biography. Angelica was the founding curator for the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at California State University, Fresno, and she is a former president of the International Wizard of Oz Club. She lives in Fresno. https://angelicacarpenter.com/
The author and their book.
Armen Bacon
Armen Bacon made her authorial debut with the powerful memoir, Griefland – An Intimate Portrait of Love, Loss and Unlikely Friendship, a story of two women whose words and astonishing friendship helped them survive the ultimate loss. Her second book, My Name is Armen – A Life in Column Inches, contains a decade’s worth of essays on family, friends, love and loss. Her third book, My Name is Armen – Outside the Lines, takes readers beyond the margins of everyday life – always circling back, returning home to her Armenian-American roots.
Her newest book project, Daring to Breathe – Stories of Living with the Foreverness of Grief, is an anthology of 28 modern day survival stories, and breathes new life into how humans navigate life after loss through the passage of Time. “The more we give expression to this journey, the better we support each other through the complex and unpredictable maze of life.”
The author and their book.
Barlow Der Mugrdechian
Barlow Der Mugrdechian is Associate Professor of Armenian Studies and the Berberian Coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program and Director of the Center for Armenian Studies at Fresno State.
He began teaching in the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State in 1985 and has taught courses in Armenian language, history, literature, culture, art, and church for the past forty years.
He received his graduate degrees from the UCLA Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literatures.
Der Mugrdechian was named in 2008 as the editor of the Armenian Series at The Press at California State University, Fresno. He was honored as the “Man of the Year” by the Knights and Daughters of Vartan at a Banquet on March 30, 2019.
Der Mugrdechian has served for eight years as President of the Society for Armenian Studies (2001-2004; 2015-2017; 2025).
The author and their book.
Bonnie Hearn Hill
Bonnie Hearn Hill is the author of 16 traditionally published novels, as well as numerous essays and short stories, and she loves everything about writing even when she hates it. For more than 20 years, she has talked about new books on the monthly KMPH Channel 26 Great Day Book Club. Publishers Weekly called The River Below, her last novel, “emotionally involving…a poignant standalone…as much a story about friendship and loss as it is a mystery.” Her short story, “The Happy Birthday Song,” appeared in the 2023 Anthony Award-winning anthology, Crime Hits Home: A Collection of Stories from Crime Fiction’s Top Authors.
Bonnie holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles. A professional editor, national workshop leader, and contest judge, she is proud of the many writers she has mentored. Bonnie’s mantra is “You can fix anything except a blank page. Keep writing.”
http://www.bonniehhill.com
The author and their book.
Brynn Saito
Brynn Saito is an educator, organizer, and award-winning poet. Her latest book, Under a Future Sky (Red Hen Press, 2023), was written after her visit to Gila River, AZ, the place where her family was imprisoned during the WWII-era incarceration of the Japanese American community. With Brandon Shimoda, she co-edited The Gate of Memory: Poems by Descendants of Nikkei Wartime Incarceration (Haymarket Books, 2025). A California Arts Council Artist Fellow, Brynn is the recipient of the Benjamin Saltman Award and a nominee for the Northern California Book Award. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Vogue, and American Poetry Review. Brynn teaches in the Creative Writing MFA program at California State University, Fresno, located on Yokuts and Mono lands.
The author and their book.
Cecilia Madueña-Young
As a passionate educator with a deep-rooted love for learning, my journey to becoming an author was inspired by my experience as a teacher. Witnessing the spark of curiosity in my students ignited my desire to create engaging STEM resources that could foster their love for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. I realized that many students, like my own, often find these subjects challenging and intimidating, which fueled my mission to write accessible and inspiring STEM books. My goal is to make these concepts relatable and fun, using captivating stories and hands-on activities to empower young minds. By weaving together my teaching expertise and literary creativity, I strive to inspire the next generation of innovators and problem solvers. Writing allows me to reach beyond the classroom and share my passion for STEM with children everywhere, encouraging them to embrace their own potential and adventure in the world of science and discovery.
The author and their book.
David Borofka
David Borofka is the author of Hints of His Mortality (winner of the 1996 Iowa Short Fiction Award) and a novel, The Island (MacMurray & Beck). His second collection of stories, A Longing for Impossible Things, was released in 2022, as part of the Johns Hopkins Poetry and Fiction Series and won an American Fiction Award for the short story from American Book Fest. His latest novel about Evangelicalism gone sideways, The End of Good Intentions, was released in 2023 from Fomite Press. His new collection, The Bliss of Your Attention, was published in January 2025, once again by JHUP.
A member of the faculty at Reedley College from 1983 until his retirement in 2019, he continues to teach for the Writers’ Program at UCLA Extension.
The author and their book.
David Miles
David Miles is the co-founder and publisher of Bushel & Peck Books and is an award-winning, bestselling author and illustrator of more than 40 books. With his business background from college, his early years as a graphic designer and creative director, establishing his own publishing house developed naturally for David. He and his wife Stephanie founded Bushel & Peck Books in 2018. It is one of the fastest growing independent publishers in America. David focuses on the intersections of art, text, and aligning with the right market. For every book Bushel & Peck sells, they pledge to donate one book to a child in need. They believe and demonstrate literacy matters. David lives in Fresno, California, with his family. https://bushelandpeckbooks.com/
The author and their book.
Diamond Simone
Diamond Simone writes for those who have loved deeply, lost painfully, and found themselves in the quiet spaces in between. Her stories explore the delicate, often painful journey of healing—how grief lingers, how love leaves its mark, and how we piece ourselves back together, even when we feel irreparably broken.
As an autistic woman with a deep connection to mental health, Diamond understands trauma not just as something to endure, but as something that reshapes us. With a background in trauma-informed advocacy and family dynamics, she brings emotional honesty to her work, ensuring even the heaviest moments are met with tenderness and truth.
Her debut novel, Falling Apart Together, is a love letter to resilience, to the people we hold onto and the ones we must let go. Through immersive prose and deeply human characters, Diamond reminds us that even after the storm, we are still whole, still worthy, still here.
The author and their book.
Dixie Salazar
Dixie Salazar has published eight books of poetry and two novels. Crosshairs of the Ordinary World, her newest, is from Stephen F Austin State University Press. She received a California Arts Council Grant in 2024. Her website is: dixiesalazar.com
The author and their book.
Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young
Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young is a published writer, blogger, and teacher. Dorina has published three children’s books, including the award-winning Cora Cooks Pancit. In addition to the importance of words, writing and journaling in her life, Dorina focuses on family, faith, and food. She has written a devotional journal for runners and walkers and a journal to navigate grief. She hosts the podcast Eat Pray Run. Dorina’s appreciation and enthusiasm of family, travel, and growing community fill her days. Dorina shares activities with her children’s books. She lives in Fresno. https://dorinagilmore.com/
The author and their book.
Ethan Chatagnier
Ethan Chatagnier is the author of Singer Distance, a literary science fiction novel that won the Octavia E. Butler Award and was named a best book of 2022 by NPR, Popsugar, and The Millions. His short story collection, Warnings from the Future, was a finalist for the Foreword INDIES prize. His short fiction has appeared in a variety of literary journals including the Kenyon Review Online, Georgia Review, New England Review, Story, Five Points, Michigan Quarterly Review, and the Cincinnati Review. His stories have won a Pushcart Prize and been listed as notable in the Best American Short Stories and the Million Writers Award.
He is a graduate of Fresno State, where he won the Larry Levis Prize in Poetry, and of Emerson College, where he earned an MA in Publishing and Writing. He lives in Fresno, California with his family.
The author and their book.
Fabiana Sandoval
Fabiana Sandoval was born in Mexico but has resided in the Central Valley for over twenty-five years. She has worked as an educator for over forty years both in Mexico and here in the United States. Although she started writing at an early age, she didn’t start publishing until 2003. Her work has been published in the United States, Mexico, Chile, Italy, and Spain. Fabiana is a delegate for arts organization The Cove Rincon based in Miami, Florida.
From 2003 to 2007, she was a freelance writer for El sol del Valle Central. During that time, she also wrote a monthly parenting column for magazine La Voz Hispana.
She has published three romance novels and a poetry collection. Some of her outstanding poems include “The Sufferings of a Mother,” “Thank you Father,” “The Shoeless Princess,” among others. Her poem “Farmworker Woman” won a literary award in 2023.
The author and their book.
G. R. Boden
G. R. Boden discovered his passion for writing about things that never happened when his short story “Lady in the Market” took first place in a college writing contest and was published in the San Joaquin Review. Stormbringer, his first full-length novel, was a thousand years in the making but took a much shorter time to actually write. Greg is a school counselor by day, writer by night, and a reader of all things make-believe. He resides in California’s Central Valley, where together with his wife, Yvette, he raised four children and a cat with one eye. Greg still holds out hope that one day he will open his closet door and find that it leads to another world. https://grboden.com/
The author and their book.
Gabriela Valencia
My name is Gabriela Valencia, and I came from Mexico two decades ago. Since childhood, I’ve loved learning. In Mexico, I cherished my single notebook and pencil, eager to write my alphabet. My school was a simple structure near my home, just a roof with chairs outside. Excelling in school earned me a trip to Mexico City—an unforgettable experience. I completed middle school and a year of high school before moving to the U.S. for a better future. Learning English excited me, and I enrolled in Fresno Adult School despite financial struggles. I earned a janitorial certificate and later completed my GED. Now, I’m taking citizenship classes, grateful for the opportunities the U.S. has given me. As an empty nester, I embrace learning, especially technology. Education empowers me, and I aspire to help others succeed, proving that struggles are just stepping stones to achieving dreams.
The author and their book.
Jessica Kulekjian
Jessica Kulekjian teaches second grade and writes books for children. Her passion for nature, free play, and interest-led learning, inspire all her stories. Including Kaboom! A Volcano Erupts, (A junior Library Guild Selection), Hiders Seekers Finders Keepers: How Animals Adapt in Winter, (A 2023 – Best Children’s Books of the Year, Bank Street College of Education, Joint Winner), First Notes of Spring, and Before We Stood Tall: From Small Seed to Mighty Tree (an NCTE Notable Book in Poetry). Her newest books are Yay! and Kersplash! A Cloud Bursts. Jessica lives with her family in Fresno. https://jessicakulekjian.com/
The author and their book.
Jim De La Vega
Jim De La Vega is a critically acclaimed author and an award-winning journalist.
His novels–penned under the name Jim Brown–have been published in 26 countries and translated into Russian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, and even Bulgarian.
His first two novels, 24/7 and Black Valley, published by Random House, have both been optioned for film.
He writes thrillers and novels of psychological suspense.
He has just signed a new three-book deal that will feature his first series character, Dr. Cassidy Chord. This series will be published under the name Jim De La Vega. The first book in the series is My Life in Seconds.
Jim is also a renowned broadcast journalist and has worked with NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox.
He is currently working on his next novel.
The author and their book.
Joan Schoettler
Joan Schoettler is an award-winning author whose writing demonstrates a global view as her stories traverse the world and include a variety of genres. The Honey Jar: An Armenian’s Escape to Freedom (Bushel & Peck, 2023,) is her first middle grade verse novel. It received the Commonwealth Club of California Book Award, Gold Medal for 2024. Joan’s picture books focus on art, nature, biographies, and diversity. Her upcoming publications are Books Travel the World (Bushel & Peck, 2025) and A Doctor at Heart: The Story of Groundbreaking Surgeon, Scientist, and Teacher Vivien Thomas (Beach Lane Books, 2025). Joan taught children’s literature and storytelling at California State University of Fresno. She lives in Fresno. Website: https://joanschoettler.com/
The author and their book.
Johan Twiss
Johan Twiss is an award-winning author who is passionate about writing clean science fiction and fantasy stories that are not only exciting, but suitable for tweens, teens, and adults alike. He has more than nine published works, including his award-winning young adult novel, Four Years Trapped in My Mind Palace, and the I Am Sleepless series. He is the recipient of the Lonestar.Ink Rising Star Award and was a finalist in the Screencraft Cinematic Book Competition. https://johantwiss.com/
The author and their book.
Joseph Rios
Joseph Rios was born in the San Joaquin Valley in 1987. He is a Xicano writer and the author of Shadowboxing: Poems & Impersonations (Omnidawn, 2017), winner of a 2018 American Book Award.
A Wallace Stegner Fellow in Poetry at Stanford University, Rios is the recipient of scholarships and fellowships from Community of Writers, CantoMundo, Letras Latinas, and the California Arts Council.
Rios lives on Yokuts land in Fresno, California, where he serves as poet laureate. In 2024, he received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship.
The author and their book.
Julia Dahl
Julia Dahl is the author of five novels including Invisible City, which was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and has been translated into eight languages. Her most recent novel, I Dreamed of Falling, was named one of the Best Books of 2024 by the Florida Sun-Sentinel. A former reporter for CBS News, Dahl was born and raised in Fresno and now teaches journalism at New York University.
The author and their book.
Kasie West
Kasie West is the celebrated author of seventeen young adult romance novels such as Pivot Point, Lucky in Love, On the Fence, Borrow My Heart, Sunkissed, The Distance Between Us, Places We’ve Never Been, and her newest title, Better Than Revenge. Honors include Junior Library Guild Selections, and ALA-YALSA Best Books for Young Adults. She is a graduate of Fresno State, where she studied education. She lives in Clovis with her family. http://www.kasiewest.com/
The author and their book.
Kelly Hollman
Kelly Hollman writes middle-grade historical fiction. Her debut novel, This Opening Sky, co-authored with Charlotte Watson Sherman and published by Bushel and Peck books, is a post-civil war novel-in-verse. Kelly lives in the Central Valley with her family. This Opening Sky is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection for 2024. https://www.kellyhollman.com
The author and their book.
Lalit Kumar
Lalit Kumar writes a regular column in India Currents magazine, sharing his passion for adventure and travel. He is author of two poetry books, Yosemite of my Heart -Poems of Adventure in California and Years Spent – Exploring Poetry in Adventure, Life and Love, that was among Top 3 Selects in the Indie Poetry genre by BookLife. He has also been published in various anthologies including the San Francisco Writer’s Conference Everything Intensely and also has a poem in Lee Herrick’s Our California online anthology.
www.lalitkumaronline.com
The author and their book.
Lee Herrick
Lee Herrick is the California Poet Laureate. He is the author of four books, In Praise of Late Wonder: New and Selected Poems, and Scar and Flower, Gardening Secrets of the Dead, and This Many Miles from Desire. He co-edited The World I Leave You:
Asian American Poets on Faith and Spirit and Afterlives: An AGNI Portfolio of Asian Adoptee Diaspora Writing. His writing appears widely, in Here: Poems for the Planet, with an introduction by the Dalai Lama; Indivisible: Poems of Social Justice, with an introduction by Common; and Dear America: Letters of Hope, Habitat, Defiance, and Democracy, among others. Born in Daejeon, Korea and adopted to the United States at ten months, he served as Fresno Poet Laureate from 2015-2017. He teaches at Fresno City College and in the low-residency MFA Program at the University of Nevada, Reno
at Lake Tahoe.
The author and their book.
Margarita Engle
Margarita Engle is the Cuban-American author of books such as Enchanted Air, Drum Dream Girl, and The Surrender Tree, which received a Newbery Honor. She served as the national 2017-2019 Young People’s Poet Laureate. Other honors include Pura Belpré awards, International Latino Book awards, the Golden Kite, Walter Honors, Américas Awards, Jane Addams Award, PEN U.S.A., and NSK Neustadt Prize. Recent picture books include Eloísa’s Musical Window and Water Day. Her young adult verse novel Wild Dreamers, to be featured at Bookfest, is longlisted for the 2024 National Book Award. Margarita was born in Los Angeles but developed a deep attachment to her mother’s homeland during childhood summers with relatives on the island. She studied agronomy and botany along with creative writing, and now lives in Central California with her entomologist husband and soccer-playing Border Collie.
www.margaritaengle.com
Facebook: Margarita Engle
Twitter/X: @margaritapoet
Instagram: @engle.margarita
The author and their book.
Merry Miller-Gass
Merry Miller-Gass is a picture book author, illustrator, and teaching artist with a passion for nurturing creativity in artists of all ages. Her whimsical illustrations have been featured in children’s magazines, and her debut picture books are releasing in 2025 by The Little Press. She has recently signed illustration contracts for two more books. Merry is the illustration coordinator with the NorCal region of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), where she dedicates her time to supporting and connecting with fellow creators in the industry. Merry lives in the Tulare County foothills. https://www.artbymerry.com/
The author and their book.
Nick Belardes
Nicholas Belardes’s fiction combines elements of literary fantastic, fantasy, eco-horror, and science fiction. His obsession with nature, history, and the world’s ongoing climate disasters, blended with a daily birdwatching habit, fills his prose with not just warblers and flycatchers but also other obscurities from the natural world. He earned his MFA at University of California Riverside’s Palm Desert Low Residency, where he received the Founders Award. He is author of The Deading and Ten Sleep, and lives on the Central California coast. You can find him at nicholasbelardes.com.
The authors and their book.
Nikiko Masumoto and David Mas Masumoto
Nikiko Masumoto (she/her) is an organic farmer, memory keeper, and artist. She is Yonsei, a fourth generation Japanese American, and gets to touch the same soil her great-grandparents worked in California where Masumoto Family Farm grows organic nectarines, apricots, peaches and grapes for raisins. In 2025, she has a new children’s book out: Every Peach is a Story, co-authored with her father, David Mas Masumoto. Together they have also co-authored: Changing Season and The Perfect Peach. Nikiko is also an arts leader and works in designing, facilitating, and storytelling. She is also co-founder of Yonsei Memory Project, an arts-based movement to activate Japanese American history in the Central Valley. She has served on the United States Department of Agriculture State Committee and as a volunteer on various non-profit boards. Her most cherished value is courage and most important practice is listening. https://www.masumoto.com/
The author and their book.
Pam Muñoz Ryan
Pam Muñoz Ryan is the internationally known author of Esperanza Rising, Riding Freedom, Paint the Wind, The Dreamer, Echo, Mañanaland, Little Bit Super (Clarion 2024), and many other books for young readers. She grew up in Bakersfield, studied education and now lives in San Diego County. Her awards include the Pura Belpré, Virginia Hamilton, PEN USA, Américas, and most recently the prestigious 2024 Children’s Literature Legacy Award from the American Library Association. Bookfest is the launch of her book tour for El Niño. In this new, middle-grade underwater adventure from Scholastic Press, former swim team star Kai Sosa must face the storm of grief that has long been gathering inside him just as a fierce El Niño storm develops off the coast. The cover is by Pura Belpré Award-winning illustrator Joe Cepeda. https://www.pammunozryan.com/
The author and their book.
Rebecca Langston-George
Rebecca Langston-George is the author of seventeen children’s books including For the Right to Learn: Malala Yousafzai’s Story, and The Booth Brothers: Drama, Fame and the Death of President Lincoln. Her upcoming picture book, Rover Rolled Over, illustrated by Merry Miller- Gass, will be published in March of 2026. A retired teacher and active volunteer, she serves on the board of California Reading Association and currently serves as the Regional Advisor for a local branch of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI CenCal), helping other writers learn the craft. She lives in Bakersfield. http://www.rebeccalangston-george.com
The author and their book.
Stephen Mooser
Stephen Mooser is the author of more than 60 books for kids, fiction and non-fiction. A treasure hunter himself, he worked the subject into first book for children, 101 Black Cats, and other stories like Orphan Jeb at the Massacree and Shadows on the Graveyard Trail. He wrote series books like The Treasure Hounds, The Creepy Creature Club , The All-Star Meatballs, and Goofball Malone, Ace Detective and also non-fiction about the weird and strange. In 1971, with Lin Oliver, Mooser co-founded the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Today, the SCBWI has nearly 25,000 members around the world with chapters everywhere from Montana to Mongolia and Indiana to India. Find out more at www.scbwi.org Now living in Los Angeles, he grew up in Fresno, where his mother worked at the public library. He has donated his papers to the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Fresno State. The center’s special collections librarian Karina Cardenas will curate a Stephen Miller Showcase display at Bookfest. https://stephenmooser.wordpress.com/
The author and their book.
Steven Banbury
Steven Banbury writes middle grade fiction. His spooky debut novel is The Pumpkin Princess and the Forever Night (Little Brown Young Readers, 2024). According to Publishers Weekly’s starred review, ” a thoroughly delightful tale reminiscent of The Graveyard Book and The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Steven lives in California with his wife and their cute dog. https://www.stevenbanbury.com
The author and their book.
Steven Sanchez
Steven Sanchez is a founding member of Fecund Stitch, a Fresno-based Queer writers of color collective. Mark Doty selected his debut book, Phantom Tongue (Sundress Publications, 2018), as the winner of the Rochelle Ratner Memorial Award. He has received fellowships from CantoMundo and Lambda Literary, completed residencies at Tin House and the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, and was selected for the Federico García Lorca Poetry Prize. His poems appear in journals that include Agni, American Poetry Review, The Missouri Review, Poet Lore, and elsewhere.
The author and their book.
Tim Z. Hernandez
Tim Z. Hernandez is an award-winning author, research scholar, and performer. His work includes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and he is the recipient of the American Book Award, and the International Latino Book Award. His work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, C-Span, NPR’s All Things Considered, and many others. In 2018, he was recognized by the California Senate for his research on locating the victims of the 1948 plane wreck at Los Gatos Canyon, the incident made famous by Woody Guthrie’s song of the same name, which is chronicled in his book, All They Will Call You, and the sequel, They Call You Back. Hernandez holds an MFA in Writing & Literature from Bennington College, and he is an Associate Professor with the University of Texas El Paso’s Bilingual Creative Writing program. He lives in El Paso, Texas with his two children. You can find more info at www.timzhernandez.com
The author and their book.
Venita Blackburn
Venita Blackburn is an award-winning author of the story collections Black Jesus and Other Superheroes (2017), How to Wrestle a Girl, (2021), and the debut novel, Dead in Long Beach, California, (2024). She is an Associate Professor of creative writing at California State University, Fresno.
The author and their book.
Yecenia Mariscal
Yecenia E. Mariscal Tinajero was born in the beautiful city of Ukiah, California. At three years old, she and her family moved to Mexico, and when she was seven, they moved to the Central Valley. Yecenia graduated from California State University, Fresno, majoring in Child Development. She is a first- generation graduate who currently teaches TK. Yecenia published her first bilingual children’s book named Visiting My Great-Grandparents in 2022. In April 2024, she published “Fields of Determination”, a story about her life working in agriculture as a young girl. In 2025 the Spanish version “Campos de determinación” will be released”.
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