TWO-TIME NEWBERY MEDALIST &
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
ERIN ENTRADA KELLY
AUTHOR | ILLUSTRATOR | NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
MIDDLE GRADE + YOUNG ADULT
FOR YOUNGER READERS
ANTHOLOGIES
ABOUT
Short Bio
Erin Entrada Kelly is a two-time Newbery Medalist and National Book Award Finalist whose work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. She is a New York Times-bestselling author and teaches in the Master's Program in Writing for Young Readers at the University of San Francisco. She has a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from McNeese State University, an MFA in fiction from Rosemont College, and an honorary doctorate of fine arts from Moore College of Art and Design. She lives in Delaware.
Complete Bio
Erin Entrada Kelly has received numerous awards and recognition for her work, including the 2025 Newbery Medal for The First State of Being, 2018 Newbery Medal for Hello, Universe, a 2021 Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space, the 2023 NAIBA Book of the Year Award for Those Kids From Fawn Creek, and the 2017 APALA Award for The Land of Forgotten Girls, among many other honors. She is also a National Book Award Finalist and author/illustrator of Marisol Rainey and Felix Powell, stand-alone stories for younger readers. Her books are New York Times bestsellers.
Before becoming a children's author, Erin worked as a journalist and magazine editor in her home state of Louisiana. She received numerous awards from the Louisiana Press Association and the Associated Press for community service journalism, feature writing, and editing. She has published more than thirty short stories and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Philippines Free Press Award for Short Fiction.
Erin has a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from McNeese State University, an MFA in fiction from Rosemont College, and an honorary doctorate of fine arts from Moore College of Art and Design. She is on the founding faculty of the University of San Francisco's Writing for Young Readers graduate program.
Erin lives in Delaware, near Philadelphia.
FAVORITES
Favorite Animal: Dog
Least Favorite Animal: Frogs
Favorite Pen: Sharpie S-Gel 0.7
Favorite Beatle: George
Favorite Star Trek Captain: Kirk
Favorite Candy: Mike & Ike
Favorite Place: The library
Favorite Colors: Red and yellow
Favorite Filipino Food: Pancit canton
Favorite TV Show: The Twilight Zone with Rod Serling
Favorite Video Game: What Remains of Edith Finch
Favorite Movies: Poltergeist, Aliens, Predator, The Thing, Repeat Performance
Favorite Middle Grade Books: Hurricane Child by Kacen Callendar, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga, See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng
Favorite Young Adult Books: For Lamb by Lesa Cline-Ransome, Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay, The Arsonist by Stephanie Oakes
Favorite Books for Adults: The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland, Lone Women by Victor LaValle, Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Favorite Nonfiction Books: The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day, Queer Ducks by Eliot Schrefer, Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri, The Good Girls by Sonia Faleiro
FOR TEACHERS
INTERVIEWS
Erin travels extensively as a keynote speaker, teacher, and featured author at festivals, conferences, schools, and libraries nationwide. To invite Erin to your school or event, contact The Author Village.
2026 EVENTS
January 17-18, SCBWI National Conference, New York
January 31, One-Day Writing Marathon, Virtual
February 5-6, Wisconsin Literacy Conference, Milwaukee, WI
February 12, In Conversation with New York Times bestsellerJames Ponti, Children's Book World, Haverford, PA
February 18, In Conversation with editor Amber Lunderman and author Akosua Harvey, Main Point Books, Wayne, PA
February 23-26, ABA Winter Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
March 14-15, Tucson Festival of Books, Tucson, AZ
March 29-31, Texas Library Association Conference, Houston, TX
April 11, HOLES Masterclass, Virtual
April 15, The New School, NYC
April 23, IMAZINE Magazine Launch + Delaware Young Writers & Artists Awards, New Castle County, DE
May 7, Houston Public Library, Houston, TX
🎉 May 12, THE SECOND LIFE OF SNAP Book Release!
May 16, Gaithersburg Book Festival, Gaithersburg, MD
June 11-19, University of San Francisco MFAC Residency
🎉 July 21, FATAL GLITCH: CAMP ZERO Book Release!
July 25-29, ALA National Conference, Chicago
August 14-17, Adirondack Book Festival
🎉 August 18, FELIX POWELL, BOY SQUIRREL Book Release!
October 1-4, MG Generative Retreat, Highlights Campus, Milanville, PA
October 16, Maryland Association of School Librarians Conference, Berlin, MD
October 18-23, Highlights Whole Novel Workshop, Milanville, PA
DELAWARE YOUNG AUTHORS AND ARTISTS AWARD
The inaugural Delaware Young Authors and Artists Awards will be presented on April 23, 2026. The awards are sponsored by Erin Entrada Kelly and offered in partnership with the Delaware Library Association and IMAZINE, their statewide literary magazine.
Four $500 grand prizes will be awarded to ages 12-14 and 15-19 for writing and art. Two honorable mentions of $100 each will also be awarded in each category.
To enter the contest, you must submit your work to IMAZINE following their submission guidelines.
© "Why Do You Ignore the World Around You?" Digital, Ace Furmato, Age 15
© "Rosewater Dreams," Pencil, Anwesha Kumari, age 15
For blurb requests, contact Sara Crowe at Sara Crowe Literary. Note: Erin does not accept blurb requests via email or DM.
For film/TV rights, contact Jason Dravis at The Dravis Agency.
For booking inquiries, contact The Author Village.
