Workshops

Aiden Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys and Lost in the Never Woods, received their MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. Born in Oakland, California, Aiden currently resides in Portland, Oregon, where they get most of their inspiration from the lush wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. Aiden is notorious among their friends for always being surprised by twist endings to books/movies and organizing their bookshelves by color. When not writing, Aiden enjoys exploring the outdoors with their dog, Ronan. Their cat, Figaro, prefers to support their indoor hobbies, like reading and drinking too much coffee.

Lilliam Rivera is an award-winning author of nine works of fiction: a dark thriller, four young adult novels, three middle grade books, and a graphic novel for DC Comics. Her books have been awarded a Pura Belpré Honor, been featured on NPR, New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, NY Times, and multiple “best of” lists. Her writing has appeared in Elle Magazine, The Washington Post, New York Times, to name a few. She is also a screenwriter and has written for the episodic podcast series Love in Gravity, which was nominated for a 2024 GLAAD. The Bronx, New York native has been awarded fellowships at MacDowell, Willapa Bay AiR, I-Park Foundation, Rowland Writers Retreat, Blue Mountain Center, PEN Center USA, and A Room of Her Own Foundation. She received grants from the Elizabeth George Foundation, Speculative Literature Foundation, and is a 2016 Pushcart Prize winner and 2015 Clarion alumni. Lilliam also received honorable mention in the 2018 James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award and in Bellevue Literary Review's 2014 Goldenberg Prize for Fiction. A featured speaker in countless schools and book festivals throughout the United States, Lilliam is currently on faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno. Lilliam currently lives in Los Angeles.

Nina LaCour is the bestselling, Michael L. Printz Award and Lambda Literary Award-winning author of picture books, a chapter book series, young adult novels, and adult literary fiction. Her novel We Are Okay was named one of TIME Magazine’s Top 100 YA Novels of All Time. Her adult literary debut, Yerba Buena, was a Book of the Month Club selection, Target Book Club selection, and Indie Next Pick. Garnering starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, BookPage, Booklist, and others, Nina’s books have been translated into over a dozen languages.

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Nina received her undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. Her graduate thesis became her first novel, Hold Still, which received a William C. Morris honor from the American Library Association.

Nina has taught, guest lectured, and appeared at conferences and conventions all around the country and internationally. Her novels have been Junior Library Guild selections, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, and have been named among the best books of the year by the Boston Globe, Seventeen, Booklist, Bustle, Publishers Weekly, and the New York Public Library among others. Nina won the 2009 Northern California Book Award for Children’s Literature, and was featured in Publishers Weekly as a Flying Starts Author.

Nina loves cooking, gardening, and daytripping through the ever-inspiring regions of Northern California with her wife and their daughter. She lives in San Francisco.

TRACI CHEE is a best-selling and award-winning author of books for young people, including the instant New York Times best-seller The Reader, Printz Honor Book and National Book Award Finalist We Are Not Free, and National Book Award Longlisted A Thousand Steps into Night. Her latest title is Kindling, a YA fantasy reimagining of Seven Samurai, which was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize. and named one of the Best Books of the 21st Century (So Far) by Kirkus Reviews. She has served on judging committees for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and the PEN America Phyllis Naylor Grant, and is currently on faculty at the Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Nevada, Reno. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys hiking, egg painting, gardening, and hosting game nights for family and friends. She lives in California with her dog.