Writers' Biographies*
CINDY KANE was an editor in children’s trade book publishing for over 20 years, editing
books that included the 2001 Newbery Medal winner, A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck, and
the 1999 Batchelder Award winner for best translated work, Thanks to My Mother by
Schoschana Rabinovici. She has held senior editorial positions with Bantam Books for Young
Readers, Four Winds Press, and Dial Books for Young Readers. Cindy has also worked as a
supervising editor in educational publishing and has written and edited numerous books for K-8
classrooms. Her middle-grade fantasy novel, The Genie in the Book (written under her married
name, Cindy Trumbore), was published in 2004. Cindy has been an instructor at the Institute of
Children’s Literature since 2005, teaching adults how to write for children. She lives in
Chatham, New Jersey, with her family.
MITCHELL KRIEGMAN is a writer, producer, and actor associated with numerous popular television shows. He is the creator and executive producer of It's a Big Big World, the Emmy-nominated PBS preschool series focusing on environmental awareness. He is also the creator of shows such as, Clarissa Explains It All, Bear in the Big Blue House, and Book of Pooh, and executive head writer and developer of numerous other television series including Rugrats, Ren and Stimpy, Doug, and Life with Derek. Kriegman has written for such publications as The New Yorker, National Lampoon, Glamour and Harper's Bazaar.
MARGARET MCMULLAN is the author of five award-winning novels including In My Mother's House, How I Found the Strong, Cashay, and When I Crossed No-Bob, a 2008 ParentsÕ Choice Silver Honor. Her essays and short stories have appeared in Glamour, the Chicago Tribune, Southern Accents, TriQuarterly, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Greensboro Review, Mississippi Magazine, Other Voices, Boulevard, Ploughshares, and The Sun among several other journals and anthologies. She is currently working on a collection of stories and a new young adult novel for Houghton Mifflin due out in 2010. For more information, visit her website: www.margaretmcmullan.com
Born in Littleton, New Hampshire, TOR SEIDLER grew up in Vermont and later, Seattle, Washington, in both of which places his parents were involved in the theater. Encouraged by his family's love of the arts, Mr. Seidler studied English literature at Stanford University, and at the age of twenty-seven his first book, The Dulcimer Boy, was published, launching his celebrated career as a writer. Over the past twenty years, Mr. Seidler has become one of the most important voices in children's fiction with such classics as, A Rat's Tale, The Wainscott Weasel, an ALA Notable Book, Terpin, and Mean Margaret, which was selected as a finalist for the National Book Award in 1997. He currently lives in New York City.
GAHAN WILSON is an author, cartoonist, and illustrator. His cartoons and prose fiction have appeared regularly in Colliers, Look, Punch, The National Lampoon, Fantasy and Science Fiction, and The New Yorker. His children's books include Harry, the Fat Bear Spy, Harry and the Sea Serpent, Harry and the Snow Melting Ray, and Spooky Stories for a Dark and Stormy Night.
EMMA WALTON HAMILTON is a best-selling children’s book author, editor and arts
educator. She has co-authored 16 books for children and young adults, four of which have been
on the NY Times Bestseller list (including the Dumpy the Dump Truck series and Simeon’s Gift),
and is Editorial Director for the Julie Andrews Collection publishing program. As a founder of
Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, NY, Emma was co-Artistic Director and subsequently
Director of Education and Programming for Young Audiences there for 17 years. She currently
serves as Co-Director of Stony Brook Southampton's Playwriting Conference, and Executive
Director of YAWP - the Young American Writers Project for middle and high school students.
Her latest book is RAISING BOOKWORMS: Getting Kids Reading for Pleasure and Empowerment.
*Participating authors subject to change. Schedule of events will be forthcoming.