Looking for publishing advice? Frustrated staring at a blank page?
The Writer in Residence program brings local authors to the Library to consult with writers of any age, experience, or genre.
This year round program, generously funded by the Arizona State Library, is a favorite among local writers. Each has brought their own special talents to the program to help people with all aspects of the writing process.
About our Fall Writer in Residence: Courtney Gustafson
Courtney Gustafson is an author, community organizer, and cat rescuer who lives and works in Tucson, Arizona. A former academic, Courtney especially values writing communities that are accessible outside of academia, and has led writing workshops in prisons, refugee communities, and women’s shelters. Outside of writing, she organizes community-based animal welfare and mutual aid projects.
Courtney’s first book, Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats, explores themes of care and community-building through the lens of animal welfare. Poets Square debuted on the New York Times bestseller list and was named an NPR 2025 Books We Love pick, and has been translated into six languages.
One-on-One Sessions
Our Fall Writer in Residence program will feature local author Courtney Gustafson. She will be available for eight 30-minute one-on-one sessions per week, September 1 to November 10, at Martha Cooper Library. Reservations can be made one week before each session, one session per person per week.
Click here to sign up for one of Courtney's sessions in our calendar.
Courtney can help writers generate new ideas, edit existing writing, work through writer’s block, explore questions about publishing, and more.
Writers under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Workshops
No registration is required for these workshops, so be sure to mark your calendars.
-
Sep19
-
Oct17
-
Nov7
FAQs
Sign up for a consultation in our Events Calendar starting one week prior to the date of the consult. Reservations can also be made by calling the host libraries or in person at the Information Desk
We recognize that having a consultation with the Writer in Residence is a great opportunity and want to ensure fair access for all our patrons. For that reason customers can book one appointment at a time.
If you have a current project you are working on, bring an excerpt that is readable within a short amount of time that the resident can give feedback on. Paper and pen are always welcome for taking notes. If you have questions about the writing or publishing process, bring these with you as well. And make sure to bring yourself!
No! Consultation appointments are open to writers at any point in their writing journey. Whether you’re preparing a manuscript for publication, trying to finish the first draft of the novel you started for National Novel Writing Month, or are just interested in creative writing and aren’t sure how to get started, the Writer in Residence is here to provide support and guidance in your writing journey.
Consultations typically run 30 minutes.
Of course! Writing is a hobby suitable for any age and the Writer in Residence is happy to meet with younger writers. Writers under the age of 18 will need an accompanying adult for the consultation.
While the residents are happy to read a short excerpt of your work that can be read within the timeframe of your consultation, the resident does not have time to read manuscripts outside their consultation times.
The Writer in Residence program is funded with LSTA funds through the Arizona State Library. These funds are awarded on a yearly cycle, and each year requires an application process for the project to be renewed. As long as we receive these funds, we will keep this program going.
We hope to continue this project and continue to look for writers for the library’s residency. A residency requires both demonstrated writing and teaching experience. If you know of an author who might be good for the program, submit the nomination form.
The Writer in Residence Program is made possible by the Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Past Writers in Residence
About Jennifer J. Stewart
Award-winning author Jennifer J. Stewart writes seriously funny books for children. Her seven published children’s books include both fiction and educational nonfiction. She also writes for older audiences: articles, personal essays, and poems. As a freelance editor, she enjoys making her clients’ ideas and words sparkle, by providing consultations and developmental editing.
She supports early literacy, believing that every child deserves the chance to read and succeed. She is proud to be a founding board member of Make Way for Books.
About Margo Steines
Margo Steines holds an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of Arizona and lives and writes in Tucson. Her work was named Notable in Best American Essays and has appeared in The Sun, Slate, the Guardian, Air Mail, Brevity, Off Assignment, The New York Times (Modern Love), the anthologies Letter to a Stranger and The Book of Alchemy, and elsewhere. She is the author of the Kirkus-starred memoir-in-essays Brutalities: A Love Story.
Margo is faculty at Pima Community College and is also a private creative coach and creative writing class facilitator. Her pedagogy is compassionate and trauma-informed, with value placed on process before product.
About Sarah T. Dubb
Sarah T. Dubb, opens a new window is a writer, public librarian, parent, activist, and born-and-raised desert gal. After focusing on literature and writing in her undergraduate and graduate work, Sarah spent several years writing about eco-friendly living practices for non-profit Green America, then went on to work as Managing Editor of SQUAT Birth Journal, a monthly publication focusing on birth work and reproductive justice.
In her late 30s, while in school to become a public librarian, Sarah fell in love with romance and started writing fiction. Her debut novel, Birding with Benefits, was a 2024 NPR Books We Love pick, and has been adapted into a Hallmark Channel movie, Adventures in Love & Birding, premiering this September. Her second novel, Honey Bee Mine, will be published by Simon & Schuster in early 2026. Sarah has also self-published three novellas, and works as a freelance editor focusing specifically on story pitches and opening chapters.
About Logan Phillips
Logan Phillips, opens a new window works in poetry and culture. Holding collaboration as a core creative practice, he has contributed to a wide range of performance, music and community-centered education projects in the US, Mexico, Colombia and beyond.
Phillips is a volunteer organizer with Tucson Birthplace Open Space Coalition (TBOSC), an intercultural effort to strengthen Indigenous sovereignty at the base of S-Cuk Ṣon / Sentinel Peak / ‘A’ Mountain. His second full-length book of poetry and creative nonfiction, Reckon, is forthcoming from The University of Arizona Press in 2026.
About Tom Holm
Tom Holm, opens a new window is Professor Emeritus of American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona. His latest academic book, Code Talkers and Warriors: Native Americans in World War II was released in 2007. The University of Texas Press published his 2005 book The Great Confusion in Indian Affairs: Indians and Whites in the Progressive Era. In 1996, his book on Native American veterans of the Vietnam War, Strong Hearts, Wounded Souls was a finalist for the Victor Turner Prize in Ethnology. His works of fiction include The Osage Rose (2008), its sequel, Anadarko (2015), and the third Hoolie Smith mystery novel, Panther Creek: A Pawnee Country Mystery (2024), opens a new window.
Tom is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a Muscogee Creek descendant. Between 2004 and 2009, he served the Cherokee Nation as a member of the Sequoyah Commission, a group of Cherokee scholars, and was named a member of the American Indian Graduate Center’s Council of 100 elders, scholars, and leaders. A deep interest in veterans’ affairs led to his membership on the first Native American advisory committee to the Veterans’ Administration. He is a Vietnam veteran and with Ina, his wife of fifty-five years, has two sons and four grandchildren and resides in Tucson Arizona.
About Meg Files
Meg Files, opens a new window is the author of the novels Meridian 144, opens a new window and The Third Law of Motion, Home Is the Hunter and Other Stories, opens a new window, and the novella A Hollow, Muscular Organ, opens a new window. Her poetry books are The Love Hunter and Other Poems, Lit Blue Sky Falling, and, most recently, The Beasts, opens a new window. Her book Writing What You Know, opens a new window is about using personal experience and taking risks in writing. She edited the anthology Lasting: Poems on Aging.
Meg taught creative writing for many years at colleges and universities, including Pima Community College, where she directed the Pima Writers’ Workshop for 28 years. Her awards include a Bread Loaf fellowship. She was the James Thurber Writer in Residence at The Ohio State University. She directs the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards and Masters Workshop.
About Elaine A. Powers
Elaine A. Powers is the author of over twenty-five science-based books, primarily for children, which were published through her Lyric Power Publishing, LLC. These books include rhyming picture books and adventure tales. She has also had a short story and poems published in anthologies. Her books were featured on AZPM’s Arizona Illustrated and in the Arizona Daily Star. She is an officer with the Tucson Poetry Society, Arizona State Poetry Society, Tucson Sisters in Crime, Arizona Choral Arts Association, and the Tucson Summer Chorus.
A retired pharmaceutical research scientist, she is involved in conservation efforts as a member of the Iguana Specialist Group of IUCN creating informational materials and participating in field surveys. Her iguana materials and many of her books have been translated into other languages, including the endangered CHamoru of Guam.
Elaine teaches an afterschool enrichment program for the Marana USD and gives talks at many schools. She has a YouTube channel featuring her characters and scientific tidbits. Elaine has been writing since 2000, initially with audio theater scripts, and then children’s books starting in 2014. She has learned how to craft a story (many genres), edit, publish, and market. She is willing to share what she has learned about the book business and how she has become successful as an independently published author in a traditional publishing world.
About Laura Markowitz
Laura Markowitz is a National Magazine Award-winning writer, Contributing Editor for Arizona Public Media, YA novelist, nonfiction author, book editor, and multimedia producer.
She started her career as a book reviewer for Lambda Literary Review and worked as an editor for MOMENT Magazine and then Psychotherapy Networker magazine, where she wrote about mental health and systems change for more than a decade. She was a regular contributor to Glamour and Utne Reader, and also wrote for Mademoiselle, Self, Ms., and many other magazines. She launched an award-winning publication, In the Family: A Magazine for LGBTQ people and their Loved Ones, which was in print for ten years. She also contributed personal essays and poems to several anthologies.
In 2005, Laura moved from magazines to book writing and editing. She is coauthor of the forthcoming Facing the White Shadow: A Self-Help Book for White People, coauthor of Voices On The Economy: How Open-Minded Exploration of Rival Perspectives Can Spark New Solutions to Our Urgent Economic Problems, co-editor of The Art of Psychotherapy and The Evolving Therapist, and author of the critically acclaimed YA novel Book of the Sky God.
In 2009, she expanded her work into broadcast. She has been Contributing Producer for Arizona Public Media since 2009, producing feature stories on a wide range of topics for NPR 89.1/FM and PBS-6. Her latest work, Children of the Holocaust, is an intimate, living-history project consisting of 20 first-person accounts of the Holocaust from survivors living in Southern Arizona. Laura also co-wrote and co-produced a series of original radio dramas called Tales of Tucson, which aired on NPR and KXCI.
As a longtime editor and writing coach, Laura has helped hundreds of writers bring their ideas to the page, screen, stage, and airwaves. She will be available for one-on-one sessions to help with works in progress, project ideas, writing challenges, questions about traditional publishing, books proposals, agents, self-publishing, and more. She offers advice, feedback, and resources for writers of all genres as well as editors and multimedia producers.
About Adiba Nelson
Adiba Nelson is the author of Ain't That A Mother; the memoir that Essence, Bustle, Ms. magazine and Shondaland all hailed as a “must read”, and subject of the Emmy winning documentary, The Full Nelson, opens a new window. She is also a disability rights activist, executive producer and creative consultant on the tv series based on her memoir (currently in development), a freelance journalist, semi-retired burlesque performer and very tired mom!
In 2013 she self-published her first children’s book Meet ClaraBelle Blue after not being able to find a book that adequately and appropriately represented her daughter (disabled, Black). Since then, Adiba has led numerous workshops and given keynote addresses around the country for parents and educators focusing on DEIA from a disability perspective.
In 2017 Adiba delivered her TEDx talk (Skating Downhill: The Art of Claiming Your Life, opens a new window) to a sold out crowd, and has since joined the NPR affiliate Arizona Public Media as a regular contributor on Arizona Spotlight, and was a featured speaker at the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of African American History and Culture, opens a new window. Her children’s book, “Oshun & Me” (MacMillan/Feiwel & Friends) will be available Winter 2024, and her next book, “Hazel’s Best Day!” will be available Winter 2026.
About Gene Twaronite
Gene Twaronite is the author of four poetry collections. His poems have appeared widely in literary journals and anthologies. His first poetry book, Trash Picker on Mars, published by Kelsay Books, was the winner of the 2017 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award for Arizona poetry. His latest poetry collection is Shopping Cart Dreams.
Gene is an accomplished essayist and children’s fiction writer. He has written and published eleven books, including two essay collections, one young adult novel, and a middle grade novella, along with a collection of his children’s stories, Dragon Daily News: Stories of Imagination for Children of All Ages. His first picture book, How to Eat Breakfast, was recently published by Lyric Power Publishing in Tucson.
He is a retired Senior Instructional Specialist for the University of Arizona. Gene currently leads a poetry workshop for the University of Arizona Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) program.
Visit Gene at www.genetwaronitepoet.com
Instagram @genetwaronitepoetry
Estella González is the author of the award-winning short story collection, Chola Salvation, published by Arte Público Press in April 2021. Her work has also been published by Kweli Journal, Huizache, Asteri(x) Journal, and other literary journals. Her poetry has been anthologized in What They Leave Behind: A Latinx Anthology and Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse by Lost Horse Press.
Her stories have garnered numerous distinctions and awards including Cornell University's Philip Freund Prize in Creative Writing, a Pushcart Prize “Special Mention” and a “Reading Notable” for The Best American Non-Required Reading. At the annual International Latino Book Awards, she received a “Rising Star” award for Chola Salvation, which won gold medals for “Best First Book” and “Best Short Story Collection.” Additionally, her short story manuscripts have been finalists for the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize and the James D. Houston Award for Western Literature.
Estella González was born and raised in East Los Angeles, which inspires her writing. She received her B.A. in English from Northwestern University and her MFA in fiction from Cornell University. She lives in Tucson with her husband and two cats.
Adam Rex is the author and illustrator of more than forty books for kids. These include New York Times bestselling picture books like Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, School’s First Day of School, (with illustrator Christian Robinson), and Chu’s Day (with author Neil Gaiman). His work has been adapted for film and television.
Some of his awards, including the Margaret Wise Brown Prize in Children’s Literature and the National Cartoonists Society Book Illustration Award. His debut novel was shortlisted for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. He has also created art for games like Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering.
DreamWorks Animation adapted The True Meaning of Smekday into the animated feature film Home (2015), starring Rihanna and Jim Parsons.
Adam Rex cites Douglas Adams (author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) as his biggest influence as a writer.
He lives in Tucson, Arizona, with his cat, dog, son, and wife. www.adamrex.com
Lori Alexander is the author of the picture books Backhoe Joe and Famously Phoebe, as well as the Future Baby board book series. Her first chapter book, All In a Drop: How Antony Van Leeuwenhoek Discovered an Invisible World received a Sibert Honor Award for distinguished nonfiction. Her newest book, A Sporting Chance: How Ludwig Guttmann Created the Paralympic Games, was a Junior Library Guild Selection and received a Kirkus starred review.
Lori has been a Tucson resident for more than twenty years. Her husband is a scientist at Roche Diagnostics in Oro Valley, and her two book-loving teens attend Mountain View High School.
Visit Lori at www.lorialexanderbooks.com, opens a new window or on Twitter @LoriJAlexander or Instagram @lorialexanderbooks
Wynne Brown is the author of four books, many newspaper and magazine articles, and has written on a wide variety of topics, including science, health, history, trails, environmental issues, horses, travel, the Southwest, and more.
Her most recent book, released in November 2021, is The Forgotten Botanist: Sara Plummer Lemmon’s Life of Science and Art, the account of an extraordinary woman who, in 1870, was driven by ill health to leave the East Coast for a new life in the West—alone. This title won the 2022 Spur Award from the Western Writers of America (WWA) in the biography category. Spurs are given for the best western historical novel, best western traditional novel, best western contemporary novel, best short story, best short nonfiction. Also, best contemporary nonfiction, best biography, best history, best juvenile fiction and nonfiction, best drama, best documentary, and best first novel as well as best first nonfiction book.
Marge jumped out of business and into writing world in 1984. Passionate about sharing the power she’s found in words, Marge leads writers of all ages in workshops that invite them to think in new ways and discover their own voices.
Marge facilitated and coordinated programing for the Owl & Panther Project for 20 years, until 2018. The program was a finalist in the 2015 Out-of-School Time Awards of Excellence by the Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence. Owl & Panther was also a finalist in the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award in the spring of 2016.
Marge developed and facilitated the Word Journeys program at the Pima County Public Library for twelve years. The program was a finalist for the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities’ Coming Up Taller Award for excellence in afterschool programming in 2007, and won that distinction in 2008.
Marge’s work with KARE Center and Owl & Panther resulted in comics published by The Comic Book Project Tucson I Am a Super Hero edition, which touched on foster care and refugee flight respectively.
As a teaching artist, Marge has been nominated for the Tucson Pima Arts Council’s Lumie Award 2008, Governor’s Award 2009 and named Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly, December, 2006, and was a Juried member of the Arizona Commission on the Arts Artist Roster, 1998-2014.
Check out her books at the library or learn more on her website: MargePellegrino.com
Gregory McNamee is a writer, editor, photographer, and publisher. He is the author or title-page editor of more than 40 books and author of more than 6,000 periodical pieces, including articles, essays, reviews, interviews, editorials, poems, and short stories.
McNamee is the editor of Zócalo, an arts-and-culture magazine published in Tucson. He is a contributing editor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. He is also a contributing editor to Kirkus Reviews, the leading publication of the book trade. He writes regularly for many other journals and sites, and his work has appeared in such venues as Science, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Outside, Smithsonian, AARP, and Native Peoples.
McNamee operates Sonora Wordworks, an editorial and publishing service, and he has been involved in the publication of more than 500 books. He is also the publisher of Polytropos Press.
McNamee is a lecturer in the Economics Department of the Eller College of Management and a research associate at the Southwest Center of the University of Arizona. He is also a longtime member of the Speakers Bureau of Arizona Humanities.
Award-winning author Jennifer J. Stewart is known for her seriously funny books for children. Her debut novel, concerning a hot-headed, time-traveling, princess-chasing dragon named Madam Yang, is a favorite among schoolchildren. If That Breathes Fire, We’re Toast! was named to VOYA’s Best Fantasy list and the Oklahoma master list. She followed up her initial success with a tale of a rich orphan and a greedy stepmother in The Girl Who Has Everything, which Kirkus Reviews called “both amusing and engaging... fluffy and fun, with just the right touch of message.”
Her latest novel, Close Encounters of a Third-World Kind, is loosely based upon her family’s real life adventures working as medical volunteers in the kingdom of Nepal. Jennifer tended patients in village hospitals and taught health education classes to women and children. She also trekked to Annapurna Base Camp and rode a runaway elephant. This book was nominated for Arizona's Grand Canyon Reader Award, Connecticut's Nutmeg Book Award, and Maryland's Black-Eyed Susan Award.
Jennifer's first picture book is The Twelve Days of Christmas in Arizona. New York Times bestselling artist Lynne Avril did the illustrations (and the sketch of Jennifer, too!). The book received the Glyph Award. Jennifer also writes educational nonfiction as "J. J. Stewart."
Jennifer was born in East Patchogue, New York, to a librarian mother and a physicist father. When she was four years old, her family moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she grew up and attended Whitmore Elementary, Townsend Junior High, and Catalina High. She received an honors degree in English from Wellesley College, opens a new window, followed by an M.B.A. from the University of Utah, opens a new window. For a while she wore suits and pantyhose, but then she found out that writing for children is a lot more fun.
When Jennifer is not writing, or speaking in schools or at writing conferences, she volunteers with the non-profit organization, Make Way for Books, opens a new window. Its mission is to give all children the chance to read and succeed. She is honored to be a founding board member.
Jennifer makes her home in Tucson with her physician husband. They volunteer as Flying Samaritans, opens a new window together. They have three daughters. Sadly, Hissy Fit, her Madagascar hissing cockroach has passed away.
Visit Jennifer on the Web at www.jenniferjstewart.com.
Margaret Regan is the author of the award-winning book, The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona Borderlands, a 2010 Southwest Book of the Year and a Common Read for the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. An editor and writer at the Tucson Weekly, Regan has won many regional and national prizes for her immigration reporting, including the 2013 Al Filipov Peace and Justice Award.
In her latest book, Detained and Deported: Stories of Immigrant Families Under Fire, Regan draws on years of reporting in the Arizona-Mexico borderlands. Regan demonstrates how increasingly draconian detention and deportation policies have broadened police powers, while enriching a private prison industry whose profits are derived from human suffering. She also documents the rise of resistance, profiling activists and young immigrant "Dreamers" who are fighting for the rights of the undocumented.
Many of J.M.’s books have been released to critical acclaim, including Prairie Gothic, which was a “Best Books You’ve Never Heard Of” selection by New York Magazine and Server Down, named “One of the Five Best Mystery Novels of 2009” by Library Journal.
In a Booklist starred review, his newest book The Spirit and the Skull was called “a fascinating tale… straddling both mystery and fantasy genres.”
After graduating from 28th grade at the University of Michigan, Alice Hatcher turned her attention from footnotes to fiction, and has since published short stories, creative nonfiction and poetry.
To the immense relief of everyone who knows her, she finally completed the 3,475th draft of her first novel The Wonder That Was Ours, winner of the 2017 Dzanc Books Prize for Fiction. She is thrilled beyond description and grateful to those who supported her while she wrote a novel narrated by a collective of cockroaches.
Logan Phillips is a poet, performer, DJ, and educator. Phillips grew up in Southeastern Arizona near the border and has lived in Tucson since 2010.
Phillips' book Sonoran Strange was a top pick for Southwest Books of the Year 2015, the Library's annual publication showcasing books that focus on the Southwest.
Phillips co-directed Spoken Futures, an organization that gives youth space to make art to explore their identity and expression.
Susan Cummins Miller
is author of the fast-paced and edgy Frankie MacFarlane mystery series. Miller, who holds degrees in history, anthropology and geology, has been honored by several literary organizations including Women Writing the West, the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards, the Society of Southwestern Authors, and Southwest Books of the Year.
A Research Affiliate of the University of Arizona’s Southwest Institute for Research on Women, she is also editor of A Sweet, Separate Intimacy: Women Writers of the American Frontier, 1800-1922, a finalist for the Longan Award for nonfiction.
Marge Pellegrino
is the author of the children’s books My Grandma’s the Mayor and Too Nice as well as the Judy Goddard award-winning novel Journey of Dreams. She has also published nonfiction and poetry.
Since 1999, she has coordinated programming for the Owl & Panther Project, which was a finalist in the 2016 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards. Of her residency, Pellegrino says, “I’m enjoying the connectedness that comes when writers share their work and tap into each other’s energies.”
Lili DeBarbieri
is the author of four books, including A Guide to Southern Arizona’s Historic Farms and Ranches, and her articles, essays, and photography have appeared in numerous publications and digital media.
Her children’s book, Sand Dune Daisy, was named a 2016 Southwest Book of the Year and a Notable Indie title by Shelf Unbound Magazine.
Adrienne Celt
is the author of the novel The Daughters (W.W. Norton/Liveright 2015), which won the PEN Southwest Book Award for Fiction and was named a Best Book of 2015 by NPR, who called it “a gratifying feast in lush, lyrical, and full-throated form.”
Most recently, she won a 2016 O. Henry Prize for her story, “Temples,” which was published in Epoch.
Janni Lee Simner, author of the post-apocalyptic Bones of Faerie trilogy (Bones of Faerie, Faerie Winter, and Faerie After), and the Icelandic saga-based fantasy Thief Eyes.
She has also published over 30 short stories for kids, teens and adults.
Her most recent publication is Finding Your Sense of Place, an ebook about the craft of writing.
Looking for publishing advice? Frustrated staring at a blank page?
The Writer in Residence program brings local authors to the Library to consult with writers of any age, experience, or genre.
This program, generously funded by the Arizona State Library, is a favorite among local writers. Each has brought their own special talents to the program to help people with all aspects of the writing process. Writers are funded from February through July each year.
About our Fall Writer in Residence: Courtney Gustafson
Courtney Gustafson is an author, community organizer, and cat rescuer who lives and works in Tucson, Arizona. A former academic, Courtney especially values writing communities that are accessible outside of academia, and has led writing workshops in prisons, refugee communities, and women’s shelters. Outside of writing, she organizes community-based animal welfare and mutual aid projects.
Courtney’s first book, Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats, explores themes of care and community-building through the lens of animal welfare. Poets Square debuted on the New York Times bestseller list and was named an NPR 2025 Books We Love pick, and has been translated into six languages.
One-on-One Sessions
Our Fall Writer in Residence program will feature local author Courtney Gustafson. She will be available for eight 30-minute one-on-one sessions per week, September 1 to November 10, at Martha Cooper Library. Reservations can be made one week before each session, one session per person per week.
Click here to sign up for one of Courtney's sessions in our calendar.
Courtney can help writers generate new ideas, edit existing writing, work through writer’s block, explore questions about publishing, and more.
Writers under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Workshops
No registration is required for these workshops, so be sure to mark your calendars.
-
Sep19
-
Oct17
-
Nov7
FAQs
Sign up for a consultation in our Events Calendar starting one week prior to the date of the consult. Reservations can also be made by calling the host libraries or in person at the Information Desk
We recognize that having a consultation with the Writer in Residence is a great opportunity and want to ensure fair access for all our patrons. For that reason customers can book one appointment at a time.
If you have a current project you are working on, bring an excerpt that is readable within a short amount of time that the resident can give feedback on. Paper and pen are always welcome for taking notes. If you have questions about the writing or publishing process, bring these with you as well. And make sure to bring yourself!
No! Consultation appointments are open to writers at any point in their writing journey. Whether you’re preparing a manuscript for publication, trying to finish the first draft of the novel you started for National Novel Writing Month, or are just interested in creative writing and aren’t sure how to get started, the Writer in Residence is here to provide support and guidance in your writing journey.
Consultations typically run 30 minutes.
Of course! Writing is a hobby suitable for any age and the Writer in Residence is happy to meet with younger writers. Writers under the age of 18 will need an accompanying adult for the consultation.
While the residents are happy to read a short excerpt of your work that can be read within the timeframe of your consultation, the resident does not have time to read manuscripts outside their consultation times.
The Writer in Residence program is funded with LSTA funds through the Arizona State Library. These funds are awarded on a yearly cycle, and each year requires an application process for the project to be renewed. As long as we receive these funds, we will keep this program going.
We hope to continue this project and continue to look for writers for the library’s residency. A residency requires both demonstrated writing and teaching experience. If you know of an author who might be good for the program, submit the nomination form.
The Writer in Residence Program is made possible by the Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Past Writers in Residence
About Jennifer J. Stewart
Award-winning author Jennifer J. Stewart writes seriously funny books for children. Her seven published children’s books include both fiction and educational nonfiction. She also writes for older audiences: articles, personal essays, and poems. As a freelance editor, she enjoys making her clients’ ideas and words sparkle, by providing consultations and developmental editing.
She supports early literacy, believing that every child deserves the chance to read and succeed. She is proud to be a founding board member of Make Way for Books.
About Margo Steines
Margo Steines holds an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of Arizona and lives and writes in Tucson. Her work was named Notable in Best American Essays and has appeared in The Sun, Slate, the Guardian, Air Mail, Brevity, Off Assignment, The New York Times (Modern Love), the anthologies Letter to a Stranger and The Book of Alchemy, and elsewhere. She is the author of the Kirkus-starred memoir-in-essays Brutalities: A Love Story.
Margo is faculty at Pima Community College and is also a private creative coach and creative writing class facilitator. Her pedagogy is compassionate and trauma-informed, with value placed on process before product.
About Sarah T. Dubb
Sarah T. Dubb, opens a new window is a writer, public librarian, parent, activist, and born-and-raised desert gal. After focusing on literature and writing in her undergraduate and graduate work, Sarah spent several years writing about eco-friendly living practices for non-profit Green America, then went on to work as Managing Editor of SQUAT Birth Journal, a monthly publication focusing on birth work and reproductive justice.
In her late 30s, while in school to become a public librarian, Sarah fell in love with romance and started writing fiction. Her debut novel, Birding with Benefits, was a 2024 NPR Books We Love pick, and has been adapted into a Hallmark Channel movie, Adventures in Love & Birding, premiering this September. Her second novel, Honey Bee Mine, will be published by Simon & Schuster in early 2026. Sarah has also self-published three novellas, and works as a freelance editor focusing specifically on story pitches and opening chapters.
About Logan Phillips
Logan Phillips, opens a new window works in poetry and culture. Holding collaboration as a core creative practice, he has contributed to a wide range of performance, music and community-centered education projects in the US, Mexico, Colombia and beyond.
Phillips is a volunteer organizer with Tucson Birthplace Open Space Coalition (TBOSC), an intercultural effort to strengthen Indigenous sovereignty at the base of S-Cuk Ṣon / Sentinel Peak / ‘A’ Mountain. His second full-length book of poetry and creative nonfiction, Reckon, is forthcoming from The University of Arizona Press in 2026.
About Tom Holm
Tom Holm, opens a new window is Professor Emeritus of American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona. His latest academic book, Code Talkers and Warriors: Native Americans in World War II was released in 2007. The University of Texas Press published his 2005 book The Great Confusion in Indian Affairs: Indians and Whites in the Progressive Era. In 1996, his book on Native American veterans of the Vietnam War, Strong Hearts, Wounded Souls was a finalist for the Victor Turner Prize in Ethnology. His works of fiction include The Osage Rose (2008), its sequel, Anadarko (2015), and the third Hoolie Smith mystery novel, Panther Creek: A Pawnee Country Mystery (2024), opens a new window.
Tom is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a Muscogee Creek descendant. Between 2004 and 2009, he served the Cherokee Nation as a member of the Sequoyah Commission, a group of Cherokee scholars, and was named a member of the American Indian Graduate Center’s Council of 100 elders, scholars, and leaders. A deep interest in veterans’ affairs led to his membership on the first Native American advisory committee to the Veterans’ Administration. He is a Vietnam veteran and with Ina, his wife of fifty-five years, has two sons and four grandchildren and resides in Tucson Arizona.
About Meg Files
Meg Files, opens a new window is the author of the novels Meridian 144, opens a new window and The Third Law of Motion, Home Is the Hunter and Other Stories, opens a new window, and the novella A Hollow, Muscular Organ, opens a new window. Her poetry books are The Love Hunter and Other Poems, Lit Blue Sky Falling, and, most recently, The Beasts, opens a new window. Her book Writing What You Know, opens a new window is about using personal experience and taking risks in writing. She edited the anthology Lasting: Poems on Aging.
Meg taught creative writing for many years at colleges and universities, including Pima Community College, where she directed the Pima Writers’ Workshop for 28 years. Her awards include a Bread Loaf fellowship. She was the James Thurber Writer in Residence at The Ohio State University. She directs the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards and Masters Workshop.
About Elaine A. Powers
Elaine A. Powers is the author of over twenty-five science-based books, primarily for children, which were published through her Lyric Power Publishing, LLC. These books include rhyming picture books and adventure tales. She has also had a short story and poems published in anthologies. Her books were featured on AZPM’s Arizona Illustrated and in the Arizona Daily Star. She is an officer with the Tucson Poetry Society, Arizona State Poetry Society, Tucson Sisters in Crime, Arizona Choral Arts Association, and the Tucson Summer Chorus.
A retired pharmaceutical research scientist, she is involved in conservation efforts as a member of the Iguana Specialist Group of IUCN creating informational materials and participating in field surveys. Her iguana materials and many of her books have been translated into other languages, including the endangered CHamoru of Guam.
Elaine teaches an afterschool enrichment program for the Marana USD and gives talks at many schools. She has a YouTube channel featuring her characters and scientific tidbits. Elaine has been writing since 2000, initially with audio theater scripts, and then children’s books starting in 2014. She has learned how to craft a story (many genres), edit, publish, and market. She is willing to share what she has learned about the book business and how she has become successful as an independently published author in a traditional publishing world.
About Laura Markowitz
Laura Markowitz is a National Magazine Award-winning writer, Contributing Editor for Arizona Public Media, YA novelist, nonfiction author, book editor, and multimedia producer.
She started her career as a book reviewer for Lambda Literary Review and worked as an editor for MOMENT Magazine and then Psychotherapy Networker magazine, where she wrote about mental health and systems change for more than a decade. She was a regular contributor to Glamour and Utne Reader, and also wrote for Mademoiselle, Self, Ms., and many other magazines. She launched an award-winning publication, In the Family: A Magazine for LGBTQ people and their Loved Ones, which was in print for ten years. She also contributed personal essays and poems to several anthologies.
In 2005, Laura moved from magazines to book writing and editing. She is coauthor of the forthcoming Facing the White Shadow: A Self-Help Book for White People, coauthor of Voices On The Economy: How Open-Minded Exploration of Rival Perspectives Can Spark New Solutions to Our Urgent Economic Problems, co-editor of The Art of Psychotherapy and The Evolving Therapist, and author of the critically acclaimed YA novel Book of the Sky God.
In 2009, she expanded her work into broadcast. She has been Contributing Producer for Arizona Public Media since 2009, producing feature stories on a wide range of topics for NPR 89.1/FM and PBS-6. Her latest work, Children of the Holocaust, is an intimate, living-history project consisting of 20 first-person accounts of the Holocaust from survivors living in Southern Arizona. Laura also co-wrote and co-produced a series of original radio dramas called Tales of Tucson, which aired on NPR and KXCI.
As a longtime editor and writing coach, Laura has helped hundreds of writers bring their ideas to the page, screen, stage, and airwaves. She will be available for one-on-one sessions to help with works in progress, project ideas, writing challenges, questions about traditional publishing, books proposals, agents, self-publishing, and more. She offers advice, feedback, and resources for writers of all genres as well as editors and multimedia producers.
About Adiba Nelson
Adiba Nelson is the author of Ain't That A Mother; the memoir that Essence, Bustle, Ms. magazine and Shondaland all hailed as a “must read”, and subject of the Emmy winning documentary, The Full Nelson, opens a new window. She is also a disability rights activist, executive producer and creative consultant on the tv series based on her memoir (currently in development), a freelance journalist, semi-retired burlesque performer and very tired mom!
In 2013 she self-published her first children’s book Meet ClaraBelle Blue after not being able to find a book that adequately and appropriately represented her daughter (disabled, Black). Since then, Adiba has led numerous workshops and given keynote addresses around the country for parents and educators focusing on DEIA from a disability perspective.
In 2017 Adiba delivered her TEDx talk (Skating Downhill: The Art of Claiming Your Life, opens a new window) to a sold out crowd, and has since joined the NPR affiliate Arizona Public Media as a regular contributor on Arizona Spotlight, and was a featured speaker at the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of African American History and Culture, opens a new window. Her children’s book, “Oshun & Me” (MacMillan/Feiwel & Friends) will be available Winter 2024, and her next book, “Hazel’s Best Day!” will be available Winter 2026.
About Gene Twaronite
Gene Twaronite is the author of four poetry collections. His poems have appeared widely in literary journals and anthologies. His first poetry book, Trash Picker on Mars, published by Kelsay Books, was the winner of the 2017 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award for Arizona poetry. His latest poetry collection is Shopping Cart Dreams.
Gene is an accomplished essayist and children’s fiction writer. He has written and published eleven books, including two essay collections, one young adult novel, and a middle grade novella, along with a collection of his children’s stories, Dragon Daily News: Stories of Imagination for Children of All Ages. His first picture book, How to Eat Breakfast, was recently published by Lyric Power Publishing in Tucson.
He is a retired Senior Instructional Specialist for the University of Arizona. Gene currently leads a poetry workshop for the University of Arizona Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) program.
Visit Gene at www.genetwaronitepoet.com
Instagram @genetwaronitepoetry
Estella González is the author of the award-winning short story collection, Chola Salvation, published by Arte Público Press in April 2021. Her work has also been published by Kweli Journal, Huizache, Asteri(x) Journal, and other literary journals. Her poetry has been anthologized in What They Leave Behind: A Latinx Anthology and Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse by Lost Horse Press.
Her stories have garnered numerous distinctions and awards including Cornell University's Philip Freund Prize in Creative Writing, a Pushcart Prize “Special Mention” and a “Reading Notable” for The Best American Non-Required Reading. At the annual International Latino Book Awards, she received a “Rising Star” award for Chola Salvation, which won gold medals for “Best First Book” and “Best Short Story Collection.” Additionally, her short story manuscripts have been finalists for the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize and the James D. Houston Award for Western Literature.
Estella González was born and raised in East Los Angeles, which inspires her writing. She received her B.A. in English from Northwestern University and her MFA in fiction from Cornell University. She lives in Tucson with her husband and two cats.
Adam Rex is the author and illustrator of more than forty books for kids. These include New York Times bestselling picture books like Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, School’s First Day of School, (with illustrator Christian Robinson), and Chu’s Day (with author Neil Gaiman). His work has been adapted for film and television.
Some of his awards, including the Margaret Wise Brown Prize in Children’s Literature and the National Cartoonists Society Book Illustration Award. His debut novel was shortlisted for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. He has also created art for games like Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering.
DreamWorks Animation adapted The True Meaning of Smekday into the animated feature film Home (2015), starring Rihanna and Jim Parsons.
Adam Rex cites Douglas Adams (author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) as his biggest influence as a writer.
He lives in Tucson, Arizona, with his cat, dog, son, and wife. www.adamrex.com
Lori Alexander is the author of the picture books Backhoe Joe and Famously Phoebe, as well as the Future Baby board book series. Her first chapter book, All In a Drop: How Antony Van Leeuwenhoek Discovered an Invisible World received a Sibert Honor Award for distinguished nonfiction. Her newest book, A Sporting Chance: How Ludwig Guttmann Created the Paralympic Games, was a Junior Library Guild Selection and received a Kirkus starred review.
Lori has been a Tucson resident for more than twenty years. Her husband is a scientist at Roche Diagnostics in Oro Valley, and her two book-loving teens attend Mountain View High School.
Visit Lori at www.lorialexanderbooks.com, opens a new window or on Twitter @LoriJAlexander or Instagram @lorialexanderbooks
Wynne Brown is the author of four books, many newspaper and magazine articles, and has written on a wide variety of topics, including science, health, history, trails, environmental issues, horses, travel, the Southwest, and more.
Her most recent book, released in November 2021, is The Forgotten Botanist: Sara Plummer Lemmon’s Life of Science and Art, the account of an extraordinary woman who, in 1870, was driven by ill health to leave the East Coast for a new life in the West—alone. This title won the 2022 Spur Award from the Western Writers of America (WWA) in the biography category. Spurs are given for the best western historical novel, best western traditional novel, best western contemporary novel, best short story, best short nonfiction. Also, best contemporary nonfiction, best biography, best history, best juvenile fiction and nonfiction, best drama, best documentary, and best first novel as well as best first nonfiction book.
Marge jumped out of business and into writing world in 1984. Passionate about sharing the power she’s found in words, Marge leads writers of all ages in workshops that invite them to think in new ways and discover their own voices.
Marge facilitated and coordinated programing for the Owl & Panther Project for 20 years, until 2018. The program was a finalist in the 2015 Out-of-School Time Awards of Excellence by the Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence. Owl & Panther was also a finalist in the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award in the spring of 2016.
Marge developed and facilitated the Word Journeys program at the Pima County Public Library for twelve years. The program was a finalist for the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities’ Coming Up Taller Award for excellence in afterschool programming in 2007, and won that distinction in 2008.
Marge’s work with KARE Center and Owl & Panther resulted in comics published by The Comic Book Project Tucson I Am a Super Hero edition, which touched on foster care and refugee flight respectively.
As a teaching artist, Marge has been nominated for the Tucson Pima Arts Council’s Lumie Award 2008, Governor’s Award 2009 and named Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly, December, 2006, and was a Juried member of the Arizona Commission on the Arts Artist Roster, 1998-2014.
Check out her books at the library or learn more on her website: MargePellegrino.com
Gregory McNamee is a writer, editor, photographer, and publisher. He is the author or title-page editor of more than 40 books and author of more than 6,000 periodical pieces, including articles, essays, reviews, interviews, editorials, poems, and short stories.
McNamee is the editor of Zócalo, an arts-and-culture magazine published in Tucson. He is a contributing editor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. He is also a contributing editor to Kirkus Reviews, the leading publication of the book trade. He writes regularly for many other journals and sites, and his work has appeared in such venues as Science, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Outside, Smithsonian, AARP, and Native Peoples.
McNamee operates Sonora Wordworks, an editorial and publishing service, and he has been involved in the publication of more than 500 books. He is also the publisher of Polytropos Press.
McNamee is a lecturer in the Economics Department of the Eller College of Management and a research associate at the Southwest Center of the University of Arizona. He is also a longtime member of the Speakers Bureau of Arizona Humanities.
Award-winning author Jennifer J. Stewart is known for her seriously funny books for children. Her debut novel, concerning a hot-headed, time-traveling, princess-chasing dragon named Madam Yang, is a favorite among schoolchildren. If That Breathes Fire, We’re Toast! was named to VOYA’s Best Fantasy list and the Oklahoma master list. She followed up her initial success with a tale of a rich orphan and a greedy stepmother in The Girl Who Has Everything, which Kirkus Reviews called “both amusing and engaging... fluffy and fun, with just the right touch of message.”
Her latest novel, Close Encounters of a Third-World Kind, is loosely based upon her family’s real life adventures working as medical volunteers in the kingdom of Nepal. Jennifer tended patients in village hospitals and taught health education classes to women and children. She also trekked to Annapurna Base Camp and rode a runaway elephant. This book was nominated for Arizona's Grand Canyon Reader Award, Connecticut's Nutmeg Book Award, and Maryland's Black-Eyed Susan Award.
Jennifer's first picture book is The Twelve Days of Christmas in Arizona. New York Times bestselling artist Lynne Avril did the illustrations (and the sketch of Jennifer, too!). The book received the Glyph Award. Jennifer also writes educational nonfiction as "J. J. Stewart."
Jennifer was born in East Patchogue, New York, to a librarian mother and a physicist father. When she was four years old, her family moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she grew up and attended Whitmore Elementary, Townsend Junior High, and Catalina High. She received an honors degree in English from Wellesley College, opens a new window, followed by an M.B.A. from the University of Utah, opens a new window. For a while she wore suits and pantyhose, but then she found out that writing for children is a lot more fun.
When Jennifer is not writing, or speaking in schools or at writing conferences, she volunteers with the non-profit organization, Make Way for Books, opens a new window. Its mission is to give all children the chance to read and succeed. She is honored to be a founding board member.
Jennifer makes her home in Tucson with her physician husband. They volunteer as Flying Samaritans, opens a new window together. They have three daughters. Sadly, Hissy Fit, her Madagascar hissing cockroach has passed away.
Visit Jennifer on the Web at www.jenniferjstewart.com.
Margaret Regan is the author of the award-winning book, The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona Borderlands, a 2010 Southwest Book of the Year and a Common Read for the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. An editor and writer at the Tucson Weekly, Regan has won many regional and national prizes for her immigration reporting, including the 2013 Al Filipov Peace and Justice Award.
In her latest book, Detained and Deported: Stories of Immigrant Families Under Fire, Regan draws on years of reporting in the Arizona-Mexico borderlands. Regan demonstrates how increasingly draconian detention and deportation policies have broadened police powers, while enriching a private prison industry whose profits are derived from human suffering. She also documents the rise of resistance, profiling activists and young immigrant "Dreamers" who are fighting for the rights of the undocumented.
Many of J.M.’s books have been released to critical acclaim, including Prairie Gothic, which was a “Best Books You’ve Never Heard Of” selection by New York Magazine and Server Down, named “One of the Five Best Mystery Novels of 2009” by Library Journal.
In a Booklist starred review, his newest book The Spirit and the Skull was called “a fascinating tale… straddling both mystery and fantasy genres.”
After graduating from 28th grade at the University of Michigan, Alice Hatcher turned her attention from footnotes to fiction, and has since published short stories, creative nonfiction and poetry.
To the immense relief of everyone who knows her, she finally completed the 3,475th draft of her first novel The Wonder That Was Ours, winner of the 2017 Dzanc Books Prize for Fiction. She is thrilled beyond description and grateful to those who supported her while she wrote a novel narrated by a collective of cockroaches.
Logan Phillips is a poet, performer, DJ, and educator. Phillips grew up in Southeastern Arizona near the border and has lived in Tucson since 2010.
Phillips' book Sonoran Strange was a top pick for Southwest Books of the Year 2015, the Library's annual publication showcasing books that focus on the Southwest.
Phillips co-directed Spoken Futures, an organization that gives youth space to make art to explore their identity and expression.
Susan Cummins Miller is author of the fast-paced and edgy Frankie MacFarlane mystery series. Miller, who holds degrees in history, anthropology and geology, has been honored by several literary organizations including Women Writing the West, the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards, the Society of Southwestern Authors, and Southwest Books of the Year.
A Research Affiliate of the University of Arizona’s Southwest Institute for Research on Women, she is also editor of A Sweet, Separate Intimacy: Women Writers of the American Frontier, 1800-1922, a finalist for the Longan Award for nonfiction.
Marge Pellegrino is the author of the children’s books My Grandma’s the Mayor and Too Nice as well as the Judy Goddard award-winning novel Journey of Dreams. She has also published nonfiction and poetry.
Since 1999, she has coordinated programming for the Owl & Panther Project, which was a finalist in the 2016 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards. Of her residency, Pellegrino says, “I’m enjoying the connectedness that comes when writers share their work and tap into each other’s energies.”
Lili DeBarbieri is the author of four books, including A Guide to Southern Arizona’s Historic Farms and Ranches, and her articles, essays, and photography have appeared in numerous publications and digital media.
Her children’s book, Sand Dune Daisy, was named a 2016 Southwest Book of the Year and a Notable Indie title by Shelf Unbound Magazine.
Adrienne Celt is the author of the novel The Daughters (W.W. Norton/Liveright 2015), which won the PEN Southwest Book Award for Fiction and was named a Best Book of 2015 by NPR, who called it “a gratifying feast in lush, lyrical, and full-throated form.”
Most recently, she won a 2016 O. Henry Prize for her story, “Temples,” which was published in Epoch.
Janni Lee Simner, author of the post-apocalyptic Bones of Faerie trilogy (Bones of Faerie, Faerie Winter, and Faerie After), and the Icelandic saga-based fantasy Thief Eyes.
She has also published over 30 short stories for kids, teens and adults.
Her most recent publication is Finding Your Sense of Place, an ebook about the craft of writing.
FAQs
Sign up for a consultation in our Events Calendar starting one week prior to the date of the consult. Reservations can also be made by calling the host libraries or in person at the Information Desk
We recognize that having a consultation with the Writer in Residence is a great opportunity and want to ensure fair access for all our patrons. For that reason customers can book one appointment at a time.
If you have a current project you are working on, bring an excerpt that is readable within a short amount of time that the resident can give feedback on. Paper and pen are always welcome for taking notes. If you have questions about the writing or publishing process, bring these with you as well. And make sure to bring yourself!
No! Consultation appointments are open to writers at any point in their writing journey. Whether you’re preparing a manuscript for publication, trying to finish the first draft of the novel you started for National Novel Writing Month, or are just interested in creative writing and aren’t sure how to get started, the Writer in Residence is here to provide support and guidance in your writing journey.
Consultations typically run 30 minutes.
Of course! Writing is a hobby suitable for any age and the Writer in Residence is happy to meet with younger writers. Writers under the age of 18 will need an accompanying adult for the consultation.
While the residents are happy to read a short excerpt of your work that can be read within the timeframe of your consultation, the resident does not have time to read manuscripts outside their consultation times.
The Writer in Residence program is funded with LSTA funds through the Arizona State Library. These funds are awarded on a yearly cycle, and each year requires an application process for the project to be renewed. As long as we receive these funds, we will keep this program going.
We hope to continue this project and continue to look for writers for the library’s residency. A residency requires both demonstrated writing and teaching experience. If you know of an author who might be good for the program, submit the nomination form.
The Writer in Residence Program is made possible by the Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Past Writers in Residence
About Jennifer J. Stewart
Award-winning author Jennifer J. Stewart writes seriously funny books for children. Her seven published children’s books include both fiction and educational nonfiction. She also writes for older audiences: articles, personal essays, and poems. As a freelance editor, she enjoys making her clients’ ideas and words sparkle, by providing consultations and developmental editing.
She supports early literacy, believing that every child deserves the chance to read and succeed. She is proud to be a founding board member of Make Way for Books.
About Margo Steines
Margo Steines holds an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of Arizona and lives and writes in Tucson. Her work was named Notable in Best American Essays and has appeared in The Sun, Slate, the Guardian, Air Mail, Brevity, Off Assignment, The New York Times (Modern Love), the anthologies Letter to a Stranger and The Book of Alchemy, and elsewhere. She is the author of the Kirkus-starred memoir-in-essays Brutalities: A Love Story.
Margo is faculty at Pima Community College and is also a private creative coach and creative writing class facilitator. Her pedagogy is compassionate and trauma-informed, with value placed on process before product.
About Sarah T. Dubb
Sarah T. Dubb, opens a new window is a writer, public librarian, parent, activist, and born-and-raised desert gal. After focusing on literature and writing in her undergraduate and graduate work, Sarah spent several years writing about eco-friendly living practices for non-profit Green America, then went on to work as Managing Editor of SQUAT Birth Journal, a monthly publication focusing on birth work and reproductive justice.
In her late 30s, while in school to become a public librarian, Sarah fell in love with romance and started writing fiction. Her debut novel, Birding with Benefits, was a 2024 NPR Books We Love pick, and has been adapted into a Hallmark Channel movie, Adventures in Love & Birding, premiering this September. Her second novel, Honey Bee Mine, will be published by Simon & Schuster in early 2026. Sarah has also self-published three novellas, and works as a freelance editor focusing specifically on story pitches and opening chapters.
About Logan Phillips
Logan Phillips, opens a new window works in poetry and culture. Holding collaboration as a core creative practice, he has contributed to a wide range of performance, music and community-centered education projects in the US, Mexico, Colombia and beyond.
Phillips is a volunteer organizer with Tucson Birthplace Open Space Coalition (TBOSC), an intercultural effort to strengthen Indigenous sovereignty at the base of S-Cuk Ṣon / Sentinel Peak / ‘A’ Mountain. His second full-length book of poetry and creative nonfiction, Reckon, is forthcoming from The University of Arizona Press in 2026.
About Tom Holm
Tom Holm, opens a new window is Professor Emeritus of American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona. His latest academic book, Code Talkers and Warriors: Native Americans in World War II was released in 2007. The University of Texas Press published his 2005 book The Great Confusion in Indian Affairs: Indians and Whites in the Progressive Era. In 1996, his book on Native American veterans of the Vietnam War, Strong Hearts, Wounded Souls was a finalist for the Victor Turner Prize in Ethnology. His works of fiction include The Osage Rose (2008), its sequel, Anadarko (2015), and the third Hoolie Smith mystery novel, Panther Creek: A Pawnee Country Mystery (2024), opens a new window.
Tom is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a Muscogee Creek descendant. Between 2004 and 2009, he served the Cherokee Nation as a member of the Sequoyah Commission, a group of Cherokee scholars, and was named a member of the American Indian Graduate Center’s Council of 100 elders, scholars, and leaders. A deep interest in veterans’ affairs led to his membership on the first Native American advisory committee to the Veterans’ Administration. He is a Vietnam veteran and with Ina, his wife of fifty-five years, has two sons and four grandchildren and resides in Tucson Arizona.
About Meg Files
Meg Files, opens a new window is the author of the novels Meridian 144, opens a new window and The Third Law of Motion, Home Is the Hunter and Other Stories, opens a new window, and the novella A Hollow, Muscular Organ, opens a new window. Her poetry books are The Love Hunter and Other Poems, Lit Blue Sky Falling, and, most recently, The Beasts, opens a new window. Her book Writing What You Know, opens a new window is about using personal experience and taking risks in writing. She edited the anthology Lasting: Poems on Aging.
Meg taught creative writing for many years at colleges and universities, including Pima Community College, where she directed the Pima Writers’ Workshop for 28 years. Her awards include a Bread Loaf fellowship. She was the James Thurber Writer in Residence at The Ohio State University. She directs the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards and Masters Workshop.
About Elaine A. Powers
Elaine A. Powers is the author of over twenty-five science-based books, primarily for children, which were published through her Lyric Power Publishing, LLC. These books include rhyming picture books and adventure tales. She has also had a short story and poems published in anthologies. Her books were featured on AZPM’s Arizona Illustrated and in the Arizona Daily Star. She is an officer with the Tucson Poetry Society, Arizona State Poetry Society, Tucson Sisters in Crime, Arizona Choral Arts Association, and the Tucson Summer Chorus.
A retired pharmaceutical research scientist, she is involved in conservation efforts as a member of the Iguana Specialist Group of IUCN creating informational materials and participating in field surveys. Her iguana materials and many of her books have been translated into other languages, including the endangered CHamoru of Guam.
Elaine teaches an afterschool enrichment program for the Marana USD and gives talks at many schools. She has a YouTube channel featuring her characters and scientific tidbits. Elaine has been writing since 2000, initially with audio theater scripts, and then children’s books starting in 2014. She has learned how to craft a story (many genres), edit, publish, and market. She is willing to share what she has learned about the book business and how she has become successful as an independently published author in a traditional publishing world.
About Laura Markowitz
Laura Markowitz is a National Magazine Award-winning writer, Contributing Editor for Arizona Public Media, YA novelist, nonfiction author, book editor, and multimedia producer.
She started her career as a book reviewer for Lambda Literary Review and worked as an editor for MOMENT Magazine and then Psychotherapy Networker magazine, where she wrote about mental health and systems change for more than a decade. She was a regular contributor to Glamour and Utne Reader, and also wrote for Mademoiselle, Self, Ms., and many other magazines. She launched an award-winning publication, In the Family: A Magazine for LGBTQ people and their Loved Ones, which was in print for ten years. She also contributed personal essays and poems to several anthologies.
In 2005, Laura moved from magazines to book writing and editing. She is coauthor of the forthcoming Facing the White Shadow: A Self-Help Book for White People, coauthor of Voices On The Economy: How Open-Minded Exploration of Rival Perspectives Can Spark New Solutions to Our Urgent Economic Problems, co-editor of The Art of Psychotherapy and The Evolving Therapist, and author of the critically acclaimed YA novel Book of the Sky God.
In 2009, she expanded her work into broadcast. She has been Contributing Producer for Arizona Public Media since 2009, producing feature stories on a wide range of topics for NPR 89.1/FM and PBS-6. Her latest work, Children of the Holocaust, is an intimate, living-history project consisting of 20 first-person accounts of the Holocaust from survivors living in Southern Arizona. Laura also co-wrote and co-produced a series of original radio dramas called Tales of Tucson, which aired on NPR and KXCI.
As a longtime editor and writing coach, Laura has helped hundreds of writers bring their ideas to the page, screen, stage, and airwaves. She will be available for one-on-one sessions to help with works in progress, project ideas, writing challenges, questions about traditional publishing, books proposals, agents, self-publishing, and more. She offers advice, feedback, and resources for writers of all genres as well as editors and multimedia producers.
About Adiba Nelson
Adiba Nelson is the author of Ain't That A Mother; the memoir that Essence, Bustle, Ms. magazine and Shondaland all hailed as a “must read”, and subject of the Emmy winning documentary, The Full Nelson, opens a new window. She is also a disability rights activist, executive producer and creative consultant on the tv series based on her memoir (currently in development), a freelance journalist, semi-retired burlesque performer and very tired mom!
In 2013 she self-published her first children’s book Meet ClaraBelle Blue after not being able to find a book that adequately and appropriately represented her daughter (disabled, Black). Since then, Adiba has led numerous workshops and given keynote addresses around the country for parents and educators focusing on DEIA from a disability perspective.
In 2017 Adiba delivered her TEDx talk (Skating Downhill: The Art of Claiming Your Life, opens a new window) to a sold out crowd, and has since joined the NPR affiliate Arizona Public Media as a regular contributor on Arizona Spotlight, and was a featured speaker at the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of African American History and Culture, opens a new window. Her children’s book, “Oshun & Me” (MacMillan/Feiwel & Friends) will be available Winter 2024, and her next book, “Hazel’s Best Day!” will be available Winter 2026.
About Gene Twaronite
Gene Twaronite is the author of four poetry collections. His poems have appeared widely in literary journals and anthologies. His first poetry book, Trash Picker on Mars, published by Kelsay Books, was the winner of the 2017 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award for Arizona poetry. His latest poetry collection is Shopping Cart Dreams.
Gene is an accomplished essayist and children’s fiction writer. He has written and published eleven books, including two essay collections, one young adult novel, and a middle grade novella, along with a collection of his children’s stories, Dragon Daily News: Stories of Imagination for Children of All Ages. His first picture book, How to Eat Breakfast, was recently published by Lyric Power Publishing in Tucson.
He is a retired Senior Instructional Specialist for the University of Arizona. Gene currently leads a poetry workshop for the University of Arizona Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) program.
Visit Gene at www.genetwaronitepoet.com
Instagram @genetwaronitepoetry
Estella González is the author of the award-winning short story collection, Chola Salvation, published by Arte Público Press in April 2021. Her work has also been published by Kweli Journal, Huizache, Asteri(x) Journal, and other literary journals. Her poetry has been anthologized in What They Leave Behind: A Latinx Anthology and Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse by Lost Horse Press.
Her stories have garnered numerous distinctions and awards including Cornell University's Philip Freund Prize in Creative Writing, a Pushcart Prize “Special Mention” and a “Reading Notable” for The Best American Non-Required Reading. At the annual International Latino Book Awards, she received a “Rising Star” award for Chola Salvation, which won gold medals for “Best First Book” and “Best Short Story Collection.” Additionally, her short story manuscripts have been finalists for the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize and the James D. Houston Award for Western Literature.
Estella González was born and raised in East Los Angeles, which inspires her writing. She received her B.A. in English from Northwestern University and her MFA in fiction from Cornell University. She lives in Tucson with her husband and two cats.
Adam Rex is the author and illustrator of more than forty books for kids. These include New York Times bestselling picture books like Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, School’s First Day of School, (with illustrator Christian Robinson), and Chu’s Day (with author Neil Gaiman). His work has been adapted for film and television.
Some of his awards, including the Margaret Wise Brown Prize in Children’s Literature and the National Cartoonists Society Book Illustration Award. His debut novel was shortlisted for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. He has also created art for games like Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering.
DreamWorks Animation adapted The True Meaning of Smekday into the animated feature film Home (2015), starring Rihanna and Jim Parsons.
Adam Rex cites Douglas Adams (author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) as his biggest influence as a writer.
He lives in Tucson, Arizona, with his cat, dog, son, and wife. www.adamrex.com
Lori Alexander is the author of the picture books Backhoe Joe and Famously Phoebe, as well as the Future Baby board book series. Her first chapter book, All In a Drop: How Antony Van Leeuwenhoek Discovered an Invisible World received a Sibert Honor Award for distinguished nonfiction. Her newest book, A Sporting Chance: How Ludwig Guttmann Created the Paralympic Games, was a Junior Library Guild Selection and received a Kirkus starred review.
Lori has been a Tucson resident for more than twenty years. Her husband is a scientist at Roche Diagnostics in Oro Valley, and her two book-loving teens attend Mountain View High School.
Visit Lori at www.lorialexanderbooks.com, opens a new window or on Twitter @LoriJAlexander or Instagram @lorialexanderbooks
Wynne Brown is the author of four books, many newspaper and magazine articles, and has written on a wide variety of topics, including science, health, history, trails, environmental issues, horses, travel, the Southwest, and more.
Her most recent book, released in November 2021, is The Forgotten Botanist: Sara Plummer Lemmon’s Life of Science and Art, the account of an extraordinary woman who, in 1870, was driven by ill health to leave the East Coast for a new life in the West—alone. This title won the 2022 Spur Award from the Western Writers of America (WWA) in the biography category. Spurs are given for the best western historical novel, best western traditional novel, best western contemporary novel, best short story, best short nonfiction. Also, best contemporary nonfiction, best biography, best history, best juvenile fiction and nonfiction, best drama, best documentary, and best first novel as well as best first nonfiction book.
Marge jumped out of business and into writing world in 1984. Passionate about sharing the power she’s found in words, Marge leads writers of all ages in workshops that invite them to think in new ways and discover their own voices.
Marge facilitated and coordinated programing for the Owl & Panther Project for 20 years, until 2018. The program was a finalist in the 2015 Out-of-School Time Awards of Excellence by the Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence. Owl & Panther was also a finalist in the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award in the spring of 2016.
Marge developed and facilitated the Word Journeys program at the Pima County Public Library for twelve years. The program was a finalist for the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities’ Coming Up Taller Award for excellence in afterschool programming in 2007, and won that distinction in 2008.
Marge’s work with KARE Center and Owl & Panther resulted in comics published by The Comic Book Project Tucson I Am a Super Hero edition, which touched on foster care and refugee flight respectively.
As a teaching artist, Marge has been nominated for the Tucson Pima Arts Council’s Lumie Award 2008, Governor’s Award 2009 and named Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly, December, 2006, and was a Juried member of the Arizona Commission on the Arts Artist Roster, 1998-2014.
Check out her books at the library or learn more on her website: MargePellegrino.com
Gregory McNamee is a writer, editor, photographer, and publisher. He is the author or title-page editor of more than 40 books and author of more than 6,000 periodical pieces, including articles, essays, reviews, interviews, editorials, poems, and short stories.
McNamee is the editor of Zócalo, an arts-and-culture magazine published in Tucson. He is a contributing editor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. He is also a contributing editor to Kirkus Reviews, the leading publication of the book trade. He writes regularly for many other journals and sites, and his work has appeared in such venues as Science, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Outside, Smithsonian, AARP, and Native Peoples.
McNamee operates Sonora Wordworks, an editorial and publishing service, and he has been involved in the publication of more than 500 books. He is also the publisher of Polytropos Press.
McNamee is a lecturer in the Economics Department of the Eller College of Management and a research associate at the Southwest Center of the University of Arizona. He is also a longtime member of the Speakers Bureau of Arizona Humanities.
Award-winning author Jennifer J. Stewart is known for her seriously funny books for children. Her debut novel, concerning a hot-headed, time-traveling, princess-chasing dragon named Madam Yang, is a favorite among schoolchildren. If That Breathes Fire, We’re Toast! was named to VOYA’s Best Fantasy list and the Oklahoma master list. She followed up her initial success with a tale of a rich orphan and a greedy stepmother in The Girl Who Has Everything, which Kirkus Reviews called “both amusing and engaging... fluffy and fun, with just the right touch of message.”
Her latest novel, Close Encounters of a Third-World Kind, is loosely based upon her family’s real life adventures working as medical volunteers in the kingdom of Nepal. Jennifer tended patients in village hospitals and taught health education classes to women and children. She also trekked to Annapurna Base Camp and rode a runaway elephant. This book was nominated for Arizona's Grand Canyon Reader Award, Connecticut's Nutmeg Book Award, and Maryland's Black-Eyed Susan Award.
Jennifer's first picture book is The Twelve Days of Christmas in Arizona. New York Times bestselling artist Lynne Avril did the illustrations (and the sketch of Jennifer, too!). The book received the Glyph Award. Jennifer also writes educational nonfiction as "J. J. Stewart."
Jennifer was born in East Patchogue, New York, to a librarian mother and a physicist father. When she was four years old, her family moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she grew up and attended Whitmore Elementary, Townsend Junior High, and Catalina High. She received an honors degree in English from Wellesley College, opens a new window, followed by an M.B.A. from the University of Utah, opens a new window. For a while she wore suits and pantyhose, but then she found out that writing for children is a lot more fun.
When Jennifer is not writing, or speaking in schools or at writing conferences, she volunteers with the non-profit organization, Make Way for Books, opens a new window. Its mission is to give all children the chance to read and succeed. She is honored to be a founding board member.
Jennifer makes her home in Tucson with her physician husband. They volunteer as Flying Samaritans, opens a new window together. They have three daughters. Sadly, Hissy Fit, her Madagascar hissing cockroach has passed away.
Visit Jennifer on the Web at www.jenniferjstewart.com.
Margaret Regan is the author of the award-winning book, The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona Borderlands, a 2010 Southwest Book of the Year and a Common Read for the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. An editor and writer at the Tucson Weekly, Regan has won many regional and national prizes for her immigration reporting, including the 2013 Al Filipov Peace and Justice Award.
In her latest book, Detained and Deported: Stories of Immigrant Families Under Fire, Regan draws on years of reporting in the Arizona-Mexico borderlands. Regan demonstrates how increasingly draconian detention and deportation policies have broadened police powers, while enriching a private prison industry whose profits are derived from human suffering. She also documents the rise of resistance, profiling activists and young immigrant "Dreamers" who are fighting for the rights of the undocumented.
Many of J.M.’s books have been released to critical acclaim, including Prairie Gothic, which was a “Best Books You’ve Never Heard Of” selection by New York Magazine and Server Down, named “One of the Five Best Mystery Novels of 2009” by Library Journal.
In a Booklist starred review, his newest book The Spirit and the Skull was called “a fascinating tale… straddling both mystery and fantasy genres.”
After graduating from 28th grade at the University of Michigan, Alice Hatcher turned her attention from footnotes to fiction, and has since published short stories, creative nonfiction and poetry.
To the immense relief of everyone who knows her, she finally completed the 3,475th draft of her first novel The Wonder That Was Ours, winner of the 2017 Dzanc Books Prize for Fiction. She is thrilled beyond description and grateful to those who supported her while she wrote a novel narrated by a collective of cockroaches.
Logan Phillips is a poet, performer, DJ, and educator. Phillips grew up in Southeastern Arizona near the border and has lived in Tucson since 2010.
Phillips' book Sonoran Strange was a top pick for Southwest Books of the Year 2015, the Library's annual publication showcasing books that focus on the Southwest.
Phillips co-directed Spoken Futures, an organization that gives youth space to make art to explore their identity and expression.
Susan Cummins Miller is author of the fast-paced and edgy Frankie MacFarlane mystery series. Miller, who holds degrees in history, anthropology and geology, has been honored by several literary organizations including Women Writing the West, the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards, the Society of Southwestern Authors, and Southwest Books of the Year.
A Research Affiliate of the University of Arizona’s Southwest Institute for Research on Women, she is also editor of A Sweet, Separate Intimacy: Women Writers of the American Frontier, 1800-1922, a finalist for the Longan Award for nonfiction.
Marge Pellegrino is the author of the children’s books My Grandma’s the Mayor and Too Nice as well as the Judy Goddard award-winning novel Journey of Dreams. She has also published nonfiction and poetry.
Since 1999, she has coordinated programming for the Owl & Panther Project, which was a finalist in the 2016 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards. Of her residency, Pellegrino says, “I’m enjoying the connectedness that comes when writers share their work and tap into each other’s energies.”
Lili DeBarbieri is the author of four books, including A Guide to Southern Arizona’s Historic Farms and Ranches, and her articles, essays, and photography have appeared in numerous publications and digital media.
Her children’s book, Sand Dune Daisy, was named a 2016 Southwest Book of the Year and a Notable Indie title by Shelf Unbound Magazine.
Adrienne Celt is the author of the novel The Daughters (W.W. Norton/Liveright 2015), which won the PEN Southwest Book Award for Fiction and was named a Best Book of 2015 by NPR, who called it “a gratifying feast in lush, lyrical, and full-throated form.”
Most recently, she won a 2016 O. Henry Prize for her story, “Temples,” which was published in Epoch.
Janni Lee Simner, author of the post-apocalyptic Bones of Faerie trilogy (Bones of Faerie, Faerie Winter, and Faerie After), and the Icelandic saga-based fantasy Thief Eyes.
She has also published over 30 short stories for kids, teens and adults.
Her most recent publication is Finding Your Sense of Place, an ebook about the craft of writing.