TWO-TIME NEWBERY MEDALIST &
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
ERIN ENTRADA KELLY
AUTHOR | ILLUSTRATOR | NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
MIDDLE GRADE + YOUNG ADULT
FOR YOUNGER READERS
ANTHOLOGIES
ABOUT
Short Bio
Erin Entrada Kelly is a two-time Newbery Medalist and National Book Award Finalist whose work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. She is a New York Times-bestselling author and teaches in the Master's Program in Writing for Young Readers at the University of San Francisco. She has a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from McNeese State University, an MFA in fiction from Rosemont College, and an honorary doctorate of fine arts from Moore College of Art and Design. She lives in Delaware.
Complete Bio
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 Girls, among many other honors. She is also a National Book Award Finalist and author/illustrator of Marisol Rainey and Felix Powell, stand-alone stories for younger readers. Her books are New York Times bestsellers.
Before becoming a children's author, Erin worked as a journalist and magazine editor in her home state of Louisiana. She received numerous awards from the Louisiana Press Association and the Associated Press for community service journalism, feature writing, and editing. She has published more than thirty short stories and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Philippines Free Press Award for Short Fiction.
Erin has a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from McNeese State University, an MFA in fiction from Rosemont College, and an honorary doctorate of fine arts from Moore College of Art and Design. She is on the founding faculty of the University of San Francisco's Writing for Young Readers graduate program.
Erin lives in Delaware, near Philadelphia.
FAVORITES
Favorite Animal: Dog
Least Favorite Animal: Frogs
Favorite Pen: Sharpie S-Gel 0.7
Favorite Beatle: George
Favorite Star Trek Captain: Kirk
Favorite Candy: Mike & Ike
Favorite Place: The library
Favorite Colors: Red and yellow
Favorite Filipino Food: Pancit canton
Favorite TV Show: The Twilight Zone with Rod Serling
Favorite Video Game: What Remains of Edith Finch
Favorite Movies: Poltergeist, Aliens, Predator, The Thing, Repeat Performance
Favorite Middle Grade Books: Hurricane Child by Kacen Callendar, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga, See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng
Favorite Young Adult Books: For Lamb by Lesa Cline-Ransome, Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay, The Arsonist by Stephanie Oakes
Favorite Books for Adults: The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland, Lone Women by Victor LaValle, Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Favorite Nonfiction Books: The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day, Queer Ducks by Eliot Schrefer, Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri, The Good Girls by Sonia Faleiro
FOR TEACHERS
INTERVIEWS
DELAWARE YOUNG AUTHORS AND ARTISTS AWARD
The inaugural Delaware Young Authors and Artists Awards will be presented on April 23, 2026. The awards are sponsored by Erin Entrada Kelly and offered in partnership with the Delaware Library Association and IMAZINE, their statewide literary magazine.
Four $500 grand prizes will be awarded to ages 12-14 and 15-19 for writing and art. Two honorable mentions of $100 each will also be awarded in each category.
To enter the contest, you must submit your work to IMAZINE following their submission guidelines.
© "Why Do You Ignore the World Around You?" Digital, Ace Furmato, Age 15
© "Rosewater Dreams," Pencil, Anwesha Kumari, age 15
In 2025, Erin visited nearly 100 schools across the country, served as a keynote speaker, gave a commencement address, and taught many workshops. January 4, 2025, All-Day Writing Marathon on Zoom January 9-19, Hamline MFAC Residency, St. Paul, MN January 31-February 2, 2025, SCBWI Winter Conference, New York, NY February 8, Keynote Speaker, Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts February 11, Virtual Visit with BookBreaks February 13-14, Appoquinimink School District Visits, DE February 18-21, Appoquinimink School District Visits, DE February 24-26, ABA Winter Institute, Denver, CO March 20, Appoquinimink School District Visits, DE March 21, Appoquinimink School District Visits, DE March 22-23, R(ev)ise and Shine Two-Day Virtual Intensive March 28, Newark Charter School, Newark, DE April 1-4, Texas Library Association Conference, Dallas, TX April 5, Kweli Conference Keynote Speaker, New York, NY April 7, Main Point Books with Jess Callans, Wayne, PA April 9, Florence County Library, South Carolina April 11, Carver Cultural Community Center, San Antonio, TX April 12, San Antonio Book Festival, San Antonio, TX April 14, ON AGAIN, AWKWARD AGAIN TOUR! with Left Bank Books, St. Louis, MO April 15, ON AGAIN, AWKWARD AGAIN TOUR! with Andersen's Bookshop, Chicago, IL April 16, ON AGAIN, AWKWARD AGAIN TOUR! with The Silver Unicorn, Boston, MA April 17, ON AGAIN, AWKWARD AGAIN TOUR! with An Unlikely Story, Boston, MA April 24, San Mateo County Libraries, San Mateo, CA, Virtual May 5, AT LAST SHE STOOD TOUR! with Third Place Books & Tae Keller, Seattle, WA May 6, AT LAST SHE STOOD TOUR! with Novel Neighbor, St. Louis, MO May 7, AT LAST SHE STOOD TOUR! with Porter Square Books, Boston, MA May 8, AT LAST SHE STOOD TOUR! with Charm City Bookstore, Baltimore, MD May 9, AT LAST SHE STOOD TOUR! with Newtown Bookshop, Newtown, PA May 11, Main Point Books with Sawyer Lovett, Wayne, PA May 13, AT LAST SHE STOOD Book Signing, Hockessin BookShelf, Hockessin, DE May 14, AT LAST SHE STOOD TOUR! with with Loyalty Bookstore, Washington DC May 17, Gaithersburg Book Festival, Gaithersburg, MD May 19, Middle Grade Writers Group with Eliot Schrefer, Virtual June 14-15, Two-Day MFA Workshop, Virtual June 27-30, American Library Association Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA June 30, Books of Wonder, New York, NY July 5, Backstory Masterclass, Virtual July 10-22, Hamline MFAC Residency, St. Paul, MN August 6, SIBA Annual Trade Show, Atlanta, GA August 16, Afoma Reads Book Club Virtual Visit August 17-22, Highlights Whole Novel Workshop, Milanville, PA August 26, YOUR TURN, MARISOL RAINEY Book Release! September 2, THE LAST RESORT Book Release! September 2, Parnassus Books, Nashville September 3, Blue Willlow Bookshop, Houston September 4, Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, GA September 6, National Book Festival, Washington D.C. September 10-13, MG Generative Workshop with Laurel Snyder, Highlights, Milanville, PA September 15, Rakestraw Books, Danville, CA September 16, Copperfields, Petaluma, CA Septeber 17, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA September 18, Hicklebee's, San Jose, CA September 29, Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Fall Tradeshow, Spokane, WA October 6-8, National Book Foundation Event, Sam Houston State University, TX October 11-12, New York Comic Con October 14, Bookelicious Virtual Author Event October 18, Rhode Island Book Festival, Providence, RI October 21, Author Study with Kwame Alexander (virtual) October 25, Boston Book Festival, Boston, MA October 26-31, Highlights Whole Novel Workshop, Milanville, PA November 8-9, Texas Book Festival, Austin, TX November 11, Montclair Kimberley Academy Scholastic Book Fair November 20-23, NCTE, Denver, CO December 5-7, National Council for Social Studies Conference, Washington DC
2026 EVENTS
January 17-18, SCBWI National Conference, New York
January 31, One-Day Writing Marathon, Virtual
February 5-6, Wisconsin Literacy Conference, Milwaukee, WI
February 23-26, ABA Winter Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
March 14-15, Tucson Festival of Books, Tucson, AZ
March 29-31, Texas Library Association Conference, Houston, TX
April 11, HOLES Masterclass, Virtual
April 15, The New School, NYC
April 23, IMAZINE Magazine Launch + Delaware Young Writers & Artists Awards, New Castle County, DE
May 7, Houston Public Library, Houston, TX
May 12, THE SECOND LIFE OF SNAP Book Release!
May 16, Gaithersburg Book Festival, Gaithersburg, MD
June 11-19, University of San Francisco MFAC Residency
July 21, FATAL GLITCH: CAMP ZERO Book Release!
July 25-29, ALA National Conference, Chicago
August 14-17, Adirondack Book Festival
October 1-4, MG Generative Retreat, Highlights Campus, Milanville, PA
October 16, Maryland Association of School Librarians Conference, Berlin, MD
October 18-23, Highlights Whole Novel Workshop, Milanville, PA
