Faculty

A Milwaukee native, Laura Anne Bird graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in English. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband, three big kids, and little dog. When she’s not reading, writing, or reviewing books, she loves to exercise and explore the outdoors. Marvelous Jackson is a follow-up to her middle grade debut, Crossing the Pressure Line, which garnered awards from the Independent Book Publishers Association, the Midwest Independent Publishers Association, and the Arts + Literature Laboratory's Wisconsin Writers Awards program.

Deb Buschman was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Wisconsin. She graduated from Carthage College, located on Lake Michigan. Over the years she has held various jobs, including busgirl, waitress (how she met her husband), fashion model, copier sales person (didn’t last long) to human resources for a bank. But by far her two favorite careers have been being a mom to four sons and a children's writer. She has been a member of SCBWI since 2011 and served as the Wisconsin Regional Advisor. Deb won an honorable mention in the humor category of the Vivan Kirkfield’s 2022 50 precious words. Her debut picture book A Knight and His Trusty…released this year with The Little Press. She loves writing informational fiction; especially humorous animal stories. You will find her outside in every season of the year and cheese is her favorite food group.

Samantha Cora Christian Haas is a writer, editor, photographer, and marketing specialist from Madison. Wisconsin’s ever-changing environment inspired her to pick up a pencil and camera at a young age and document everything. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2010 at St. Norbert College studying English and art. Since then she has blended her passions for writing and photography as a community journalist, lifestyle photographer, real estate marketer, publication designer and editor, nonprofit communications coordinator, freelance writer and copy editor, event planner, web designer, and volunteer grant writer.

Hailing from Québec City, Marie-Laure Couët is a mixed media illustrator and designer with a love of collage, imperfection, and chickens. When she isn't working on her projects she volunteers as the SCBWI Canada East Illustrator Coordinator. In a past life Marie-Laure ran an award-winning cheesemaking company in Massachusetts and tended a dozen laying hens. The hens have been replaced by two human babies and, while the babies don't offer any eggs, they do provide Marie-Laure with all the snuggles necessary. And more than enough boogers.

Kait Lee Feldmann is a children’s book agent at kt literary representing illustrators. She has been romping around children’s book publishing for the past decade, previously as an editor at HarperCollins and Scholastic. Her list as editor included award-winning books that received a Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, and Sibert Honor; the Ezra Jack Keats Award; and appearances on Best of Lists for The New York Times, NPR, Kirkus, and more. Kait is hapa (mixed race Chinese/white) and is passionate about championing books by, about, and for BIPOC. In 2020 she received the CBC Diversity Outstanding Achievement Award. Kait resides in a hoarder’s paradise in Los Angeles, surrounded by books. When she’s not reading those, she can often be found playing board games, estate sale hopping, or crafting.

Leah Gilbert grew up just blocks from Lake Michigan in a small Wisconsin town, with a deep love of art, books, and The Lake. After earning her bachelor's degree in illustration and graphic design, she moved to Colorado where she spent 10 years working as an illustrator and designer at a greeting card company. She now lives back in Wisconsin with her husband, son, and a fluffy pup where she writes and illustrates books for kids. Her newest picture book, NO BEAR ANYWHERE, was released May 2024 from Bloomsbury Children’s books. Her other books include THE PERFECT PLAN (Bloomsbury, 2021) and A COUCH FOR LLAMA (Union Square Kids, 2018). If she’s not in her office making books or reading them, you might find her getting inspired outdoors… or eating ice cream (or both).

Julie Hedlund is an award-winning picture book author. Her titles include SONG AFTER SONG: The Musical Life of Julie Andrews, OVER, BEAR! UNDER, WHERE?, MY LOVE FOR YOU IS THE SUN, and A TROOP IS A GROUP OF MONKEYS. She lives in beautiful Boulder, CO with her family. Find out more about Julie at juliehedlund.com and follow her on Instagram, X/Twitter & TikTok (@juliefhedlund). In addition to writing her own books, Julie helps fellow authors achieve their publishing dreams in her role as Founder of The 12 x 12 Picture Book Writing Challenge, co-Founder of The Complete Picture Book Submissions System, and a co-Founder of Picture Book Summit.

Kirsten W. Larson used to work with rocket scientists at NASA, but now writes books for curious kids. She is the acclaimed author of over 30 nonfiction books for young readers, including The Fire of Stars, an NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor book, as well as the craft book Reimagining Your Nonfiction Picture Book: A step-by-step revision guide, praised as “a must-have for every nonfiction picture book writer’s bookshelf.” You can also find her hosting the Nonfiction Kidlit Craft Conversations podcast, which takes a deep dive into the craft and business of children’s nonfiction.

Irene Latham writes poems and stories from the Purple Horse Poetry Studio & Music Room beside a mountain lake in Blount County, Alabama. The author or co-author of twenty-five books, African Town, winner of the Scott O'Dell Award; Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship, a Charlotte Huck Honor book; and The Cat Man of Aleppo, awarded a Caldecott Honor. Her latest adventure is curating poetry anthologies with her "Poetic Forever Friend" Charles Waters, including The Mistakes That Made Us (an NCTE Notable Poetry Book), If I Could Choose a Best Day, and the forthcoming For the Win. Read hundreds of Irene's poems for free at irenelatham.com.

Melissa Manlove is an Executive Editor at Sourcebooks. She has been an editor for 22 years and a children’s bookseller for as long. Her acquisitions encompass picture books, chapter books, nonfiction, graphic novels, and novels in verse. When acquiring, she looks for fresh takes on familiar topics as well as the new and unusual. An effective approach and strong, graceful writing are important to her.

Pat Zietlow Miller has published 23 picture books and has more on the way. Her first book, SOPHIE’S SQUASH, won the Golden Kite Award, an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Honor, and a Charlotte Zolotow Honor. BE KIND was on the New York Times bestseller list for 10 weeks, and IN OUR GARDEN is a two-time Dolly Parton Imagination Library selection. Pat lives in Wisconsin. Find her at www.patzietlowmiller.com, on Twitter and TikTok at @PatZMiller, and on Instagram at @patzmill.

Erin Krase-Minchk has spent the last 28 years in middle school. She is a cross-categorical teacher specializing in reading, writing, math, and social thinking, and is the mother of two daughters. Erin has a master’s in education and is twice National Board certified. Writing and storytelling have been a lifelong project. Seeing Eye to Eye is the follow-up to her debut novel, Between the Lines. These stories are created to make social thinking part of reading and our everyday lives. Erin was born, raised, and teaches in Wisconsin but loves to travel with her husband and kids.

Children’s book author and indie publisher DARCY PATTISON has written over seventy award-winning fiction and non-fiction books for children. Five books have received starred PW, Kirkus, or BCCB reviews. Awards include the Irma Black Honor award, five NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books, six Eureka! Nonfiction Honor book (CA Reading Assn.), two Junior Library Guild selections, two CLA Notable Children’s Book in Language Arts, a Notable Social Studies Trade Book, a Best STEM Book, an Arkansiana Award, and the Susannah DeBlack Arkansas Children’s History Book award. She’s the 2007 recipient of the Arkansas Governor’s Arts Award for Individual Artist for her work in children’s literature. Her books have been translated into eleven languages.

Liza Voges has been a literary agent for over 40 years, representing children's book authors and illustrators from pre-school through young adult. Some of the Eden Street clients include Dan Gutman, Alyssa Satin Capucilli, Joyce Uglow, Sue Lowell Gallion, Joan Holub, and numerous others.

Teresa Ho Robeson is an Asian Pacific American Librarians Association Picture Book Award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction books on science and her own culture, from picture books to middle grade to graphic novels. She has seven more books scheduled to release over the next three years. A former Co-Regional Advisor for Indiana SCBWI, Teresa also teaches about writing (Boyd Mills - formerly Highlights, SCBWI, and more) and is working some novels and another graphic nonfiction. She lives on a mini-farm in southern IN with her scientist husband, younger child, and a flock of unruly chickens. Teresa is also an artist and surface pattern designer.

Cindy Schumerth lives in Wisconsin with her husband and rescue dog, Chance. They have two amazing grown children. Being outdoors is one of her favorite things. In spring you can find her planting her garden. When summer comes she'll be out on the lake kayaking, swimming, or fishing. She has published four picture books.

Jeanne Styzcinski is the proud author and illustrator of Mama, How Does The Wind Start To Blow?, and Papa, Why Does The Sun Shine? both recipients of the Children’s Moonbeam Award and Children’s Literary Classics Seal of Approval. Jeanne resides in Colfax, Wisconsin with her husband, Gerry, dog, four horses, and two barn cats. Her four children are all grown up and live across the midwest, visiting home often.

Liza Wiemer is an award-winning educator with over twenty years of teaching experience. Her second novel, The Assignment, was published by Delacorte Press and has received 12 honors, including being named a Sydney Taylor Notable Book. To date, The Assignment has also been translated to Russian, Polish, Italian, and Korean and has been optioned for film. In addition, Liza has had two adult nonfiction books published and several short stories included in the New York Times bestselling Small Miracles series. Since August 2020, she has presented over 700 talks and workshops across the globe. She’s been interviewed by media outlets like NPR, BBC, ABC, and gave a TedXTalk at the UW-Madison. Her debut picture book, Out and About: A Tale of Giving, was published by Kalaniot Books in August 2023. A graduate of UW-Madison, Liza has two married sons and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her husband, Jim.