Midsouth Speakers Directory
SCBWI Midsouth is happy to provide the following list of published authors and illustrators of books for children and teens who maintain a website and have expressed interest in receiving invitations for speaking and/or teaching engagements in schools, libraries, book festivals, conferences, etc. This list is restricted to authors and illustrators whose work has appeared in at least one children's book, magazine, movie, or play in return for compensation. Many of these individuals have produced award winners and bestsellers. To discuss a potential appearance, please visit the person's website and use the contact information supplied there.
Download Our Speakers' List
Click HERE to download a searchable spreadsheet of SCBWI members from Kentucky, Tennessee and surrounding communities who are available for school visits and other speaking or teaching engagements. To book an individual author or illustrator for an event, please contact them directly via their website. The home base of each author and illustrator is provided so you have a general idea of their travel point of origin. Please note, however, that most members are open to (and welcome) traveling beyond their home base.
Once you have downloaded the spreadsheet, click on:
>File
>Download
>>Select the application you prefer to use for downloads from the menu
>Save it to your preferred device
After saving, you may then sort, filter and search the results to find a speaker that meets your needs. NOTE: You will have to unfilter results to start a new search.
You may also scroll down the page below for a quick glance by geographic region of the authors and illustrators included in our spreadsheet. The spreadsheet contains more details about the audiences they serve and the types of presentations they are available to give at schools, libraries and other events.
Speakers by Region
KENTUCKY SPEAKERS
Bowling Green area:
M Hendrix mhendrixwrites.com (author)
David Bell davidbellnovels.com (author)
Louisville area:
Lynn Slaughter lynnslaughter.com (author)
Shannon Stocker shannonstocker.com (author)
Lexington area:
Rachel Elliott rachelelliott.me (author, illustrator)
TENNESSEE SPEAKERS
Eastern Tennessee:
Lucy Branam lucybranam.com (author)
Rita Lorraine Hubbard ritahubbard.com (author)
Danielle Y. C. McClean daniellemcclean.com (author, translator)
Greater Nashville area:
Jennifer Lynn Alvarez jenniferlynnalvarez.com (author)
Kimberly Dana kimberlydana.com (author)
Caroline Brooks DuBois carolinebrooksdubois.com (author)
Susan Eaddy susaneaddy.com (author, illustrator)
Tama Fortner tamafortner.com (author)
Rachel Tawil Kenyon happywithabook.com (author)
Kathyn J. Kirkwood kathlynjkirkwood.com (author, educator, activist)
Janet K. Lee j-k-lee.com (author, illustrator)
Heather L. Montgomery HeatherLMontgomery.com (author)
Erica Ivy Rodgers ericaivyrodgers.com (author)
Adam Rosenbaum adamrosenbaumwrites.com (author)
Lisa Spencer lisaspencer.com (author)
Kristin O'Donnell Tubb kristintubb.com (author)
Mary Uhles maryuhles.com (illustrator, author)
Robyn Wall robynjwall.com (author)
Dorena Williamson dorenawilliamson.com (author)
Dawn Renee Young mrsgoodchoice.com (author)
Jessica Young jessicayoungbooks.com (author)
OUTSIDE THE MIDSOUTH
Alabama:
Heather L. Montgomery HeatherLMontgomery.com (author)
Heather Morris heathercmorris.com (author)
Georgia:
McCall Hoyle mccallhoyle.com (author, educator)
Shanda McCloskey shandamc.com/school-visits (author, educator, illustrator)
If you are a PAL member who does presentations and would like to be included on this list, please fill out and submit this form.
List updated: March 26, 2026