Bio:

Martha Bennett Stiles is the great8granddaughter of Tom Savage, the subject of her first novel, ONE AMONG THE INDIANS, 1962, Dial Press; and 2006, Authors Guild-iUniverse Back-in-Print. Martha grew up in Virginia near where Tom was Jamestown’s hostage to Pocahontas’s father.

SAILING TO FREEDOM, Martha’s 2nd Underground RR novel, was published by Henry Holt in July, 2012 and was Kentucky's choice for 2012's National Bookfest, Washington, D.C.

At the College of William and Mary, Martha won the James Bryan Hope Award for contributions to the campus literary magazine, and at the U. of Michigan, 2 Hopwood Awards for non-fiction. A resident of Kentucky, she is the winner of 2 Frankfort (KY) short story awards, and 2 Al Smith (NEA) Fellowships. ISLAND MAGIC, her picture book set on Grosse Ile, MI, won the Detroit Women Writers’ Millennium Reading contest, Children’s Division.

Martha's first 11 books for young people include ALA Notable, Horn Book Fanfare, DARKNESS OVER THE LAND–a story of WWII in Munich, the result of her husband’s Guggenheim having given her a year in that city.
KATE OF STILL WATERS, 1988 SCBWI-Judy Blume Prize winner, grew out of her years as a Thoroughbred breeder’s wife (same husband).
Martha's other books for young people are THE STRANGE HOUSE AT NEWBURYPORT,DOUGAL LOOKS FOR BIRDS, JAMES THE VINE PULLER,THE STAR IN THE FOREST, TANA & THE USELESS MONKEY and SARAH THE DRAGON LADY,
Martha’s adult novel, LONESOME ROAD, about a kidnaped Kentucky boy who makes his own way back to safety, was Kentucky Educational TV’s Bookclub choice for May 2006, October 2007, and October 2010. Her >5 dozen stories & articles have appeared in Esquire, Seventeen, Georgia Review, The NY Times, etc.
Martha has taught writing at the Universities of Kentucky and Louisville, and in residencies at Kentucky’s Estill County Middle School, Bate Middle School, and the Louisville Collegiate School.
She has served on the staff of writers conferences at the U. of Michigan; Oakland U.; Morehead State U.; Fayette County Student Writers’ Conference, U. of Kentucky; Christopher Newport College; Eastern Kentucky U.;Charleston (S.C.) College; Pine Mountain State Resort Park and Spalding U.

Writer
PAL
Member since 1987
Region: Midsouth (Tennessee/Kentucky)

Contact Information

Email:  mbsparis@msn.com
Phone:   859-335-6502
Current Location:   Lexington
Website:  http://marthabennettstiles.com

Published In Children's Market: Yes
Available for Speaking Engagements? Yes