A panel of Kalamazoo authors, David Small, Bonnie Jo Campbell and Emmy Kastner, are presenting a Breakout Session at the Michigan Library Association’s 2023 Annual Conference: Connecting the Dots on Thursday, October 19. Panel Moderator Kevin King, Head of Community Engagement for the Kalamazoo Public Library, says, “The opportunity to speak with these three authors is beyond exciting. They may be local, but they have national and international recognition. We plan to delve into how living in this area affects their work.”
David Small is the author and illustrator of more than 50 books for children, and two graphic novels. So You Want to Be President? earned Small a Caldecott Medal in 2001. Among his many other awards: MLA 2015 Michigan Author of the Year, two Caldecott Honors, two Christopher Awards, a Gold Medal from The Society for Illustrators, and an ABBY Honor Book Award.
His graphic memoir, Stitches, a NY Times best seller and National Book Award finalist, has been translated into 12 languages. Both Stitches and his graphic novel, Home After Dark, received the ALA Alex Award for best novels published for adults that are also suitable for young adult readers. The publication date for his third graphic book, Werewolf at Dusk, a collection of short stories, is March 2024.
David and his wife, author Sarah Stewart, live in Mendon, Michigan.
Novelist and short story writer Bonnie Jo Campbell has published two novels, three books of short stories, and one poetry chapbook. The Waters, her third novel, is scheduled for release January 9, 2024.
American Salvage, a book of short stories, was a finalist for The National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award. Once Upon a River, a national bestselling novel, was made into an award-winning film, and has been translated into eight languages.
She has been awarded a Pushcart Prize, AWP’s prize for short fiction, the Eudora Welty Prize from Southern Review, and the Mark Twain Award from the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature. She was a 2012 Guggenheim Fellow. In 2023 Michigan State University published Michigan Salvage, a critical study of her fiction.
Bonnie Jo lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Emmy Kastner is an author and illustrator of children’s books, including the picture books A Very Big Fall (Clarion/Harper; 2022) and While You're Asleep (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; Spring ‘24). She launched her publishing career with the eight book non-fiction science series, Nerdy Babies (Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan).
As an artist, she employs various mediums to make her art: acrylic gouache, colored pencils, collage, watercolor, pen and ink, as well as some digital tools. Her books have been published in four languages. Since she was small, she'd been drawn to stories and has always wanted to make books of her own. One of her favorites (as a kid and today) has been David Small's Imogene's Antler's. The copy she loved as a kid sits on her desk.
In 2012, Kastner and Anne Hensley co-founded the nonprofit, Read and Write Kalamazoo (RAWK), a writing center devoted to celebrating and amplifying youth voices through the cultivation of reading and writing skills, via joy, creativity, equity and access. With support of volunteers, tutors and a growing staff, RAWK programs meet youth where they are—from after-school and summer programs at the writing center to in-school programs during the school day.
Emmy lives in Kalamazoo with her husband and three kids. She spends most days writing and making art in her studio.