Michael Chabon
Neil Gaiman
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Ted Kooser
Lois Lowry
Marjane Satrapi
Chris Ware
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Novelist Michael Chabon won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2001 for his novel "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay." His two prior novels, "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" and "Wonder Boys" were also bestsellers, and the latter was made into a critically-acclaimed film featuring actors Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire. Chabon's newest novel, entitled "The Yiddish Policemen's Union," is a thriller set in an imaginary world inspired by Franklin D. Roosevelt's short-lived plan during WWII to create a Jewish homeland in Alaska, rather than the Middle East.
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Neil Gaiman is the critically acclaimed, award-wining creator of the "Sandman" series of graphic novels; author of the novels "American Gods," "Neverwhere," and "Coraline;" the short fiction collections "Smoke and Mirrors" and the upcoming "Fragile Things;" and the bestselling children's books "The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish" and "The Wolves in the Walls."
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Hailed as a legend in Europe for his poetry and music, and revered as the world's first reggae poet, Linton Kwesi Johnson's numerous poetry collections, novels and records have earned him tremendous praise and accolades. LKJ has been awarded a Silver Musgrave Medal for eminence in the field of poetry by the Institute of Jamaica, the second highest award in Jamaica. Nominated for a Grammy in 1985, his recordings are amongst the top-selling reggae albums in the world and his work has been translated into several languages.
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Appointed in 2004 as the thirteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, Ted Kooser has been writing and publishing poetry for more than forty years. Born in Iowa and currently living in Nebraska, Kooser is a professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He worked for many years in the life insurance business, retiring in 1999 as a vice president. The author of eleven full-length collections of poetry, Kooser has received two NEA fellowships in poetry, two Pushcart Prizes, the Stanley Kunitz Prize, and a Merit Award from the Nebraska Arts Council; in addition, his book "Delights & Shadows" won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
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Whether she's writing comedy, adventure, or poignant, powerful drama-from "Attaboy, Sam!" and "Anastasia Krupnik" to "Number the Stars" and "The Giver," Lois Lowry's appeal is as broad as her subject matter and as deep as her desire to affect an eager generation of readers. An author who is "fast becoming the Beverly Cleary for the upper middle grades" (The Horn Book Magazine), Lois Lowry has written over 20 books for young adults and is a two-time Newbery Medal Winner. Lois Lowry has four children and two grandchildren. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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Graphic novelist and illustrator Marjane Satrapi grew up in Tehran. While attending the Lycée Français, she witnessed the curtailing of civil liberties and the changes to everyday life that followed the fall of the Shah, the early regime of Ayatollah Khomeini, and the first years of the Iran-Iraq war. Her best-selling autobiographical graphic novels, "Persepolis" and "Persepolis 2," tell the story of Satrapi's youth in Iran and her move to Europe, as an adolescent, to flee the Iranian regime. Satrapi's other books include "Embroideries" and "Chicken and Plums" as well as several children's books. She lives in Paris and is at work on an animated film adaptation of "Persepolis."
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As one of today's most renowned cartoonists, Ware is widely considered an artist of genius. Combining innovative comic book art, hand lettering, and graphic design, Ware's uniquely appealing work is characterized by ceaseless experimentation with narrative and graphic forms. The publication of his graphic novel "Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth" in 2000 inspired a near avalanche of praise from critics and readers alike. For its experiments in graphic form -- including three-dimensional pullout inserts -- and its non-chronological narrative, the novel earned numerous honors, among them the Guardian First Book Award, presented for the first time to a comic book.
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