Legendary Frybread Drive-In

Cynthia Leitich Smith is a bestselling, acclaimed author of books for all ages, including Here Come the Aunties!, Firefly Season, Jingle Dancer, Indian Shoes, On a Wing and a Tear, Sisters of the Neversea, Blue Stars: Mission One: The Vice Principal Problem (with Kekla Magoon), Rain Is Not My Indian Name, Harvest House, and Hearts Unbroken, which won the American Indian Youth Literature Award. Cynthia is also the anthologist of Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids, and Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories, which won the Michael L. Printz Award and the American Indian Youth Literature Award. She has been honored with the American Library Association’s Children’s Literature Lecture Award and has been named the NSK Neustadt Laureate. She is the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint at HarperCollins Children's Books, and served as the Katherine Paterson Endowed Chair on the faculty of the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Cynthia is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and lives in Denton, Texas.

A writer's life is forged by a kaleidoscope of experiences, and Marcella's (She/Her, Muscogee Freedmen, Black, European-American) is no exception – from gracing newsrooms and theater stages to wild encounters with raven bites and pelican lice. Prophetically voted 'Most Likely to Write a Bestselling Novel' in high school, she may not have conquered the bestseller lists yet, but she's made good on the rest with seven published novels under her belt so far, including her sizzling Closed Circuit romance duology, The Wildest Ride and The Rodeo Queen. Whether crafting captivating romances or developing uplifting stories for young readers, her narratives reflect her intimate understanding of intersectional identities, buried histories, and undertold tales. When not writing, you might find Marcella chasing after her children like a regency era butler, nerding out over anime and corvids, getting tattooed, exploring the outdoors with her beloved, eating, reading, or otherwise feeding her insatiable curiosity and a hunger for understanding the world through diverse lenses and experiences. Marcella earned a Master’s in Public Administration as well as a Bachelor of Arts from Portland State University and remains grateful to learn new things, each and every day.

Darcie Little Badger is an award-winning Lipan Apache author with a PhD in oceanography. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, Elatsoe, was featured in Time Magazine as one of the best 100 fantasy novels of all time. Elatsoe also won the Locus award for Best First Novel and is a Nebula, Ignyte, and Lodestar finalist. Her second fantasy novel, A Snake Falls to Earth, received a Nebula and Ignyte Award, as well as a Newbery Honor, and is on the National Book Awards longlist. Darcie lives with her husband in Texas. You can visit her online at darcielittlebadger.com.

Cheryl Isaacs can often be found running through the Carolinian forest of southwestern Ontario, where she has fearlessly enjoyed the trails for years. Her Kanyen’kéha culture often appears in her writing, including her first horror duology, The Unfinished and The Others.

Andrea L. Rogers is from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts with an MFA in creative writing. Andrea lives and writes in the Boston Mountains in Arkansas.

Christine Hartman Derr is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She’s a graduate from VCFA’s Writing for Children MFA program, where she was selected as a DEI Fellow and a Center for Arts and Social Justice Fellow. Her work includes themes on identity, belonging, and sharing the Cherokee language. Originally from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Christine lives in Tennessee with her spouse, children, and a rambunctious crew of lovable pets.

K. A. Cobell, Staa’tssipisstaakii, is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation. Her debut novel, Looking for Smoke, was a Reese’s Book Club Pick. She currently lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she spends her time writing books, chasing her kids through the never-ending rain, and scouring the inlet beaches for sand dollars and hermit crabs.

Jen Ferguson is Michif/Métis and white, an activist, a feminist, an auntie, and an accomplice armed with a PhD. She believes writing, teaching and beading are political acts. She also has strong opinions about pastries and could essentially live off of pain au chocolat. Jen is a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation.

Byron Graves is Ojibwe and Lakota and was born and raised on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota, where they played high school basketball. When they aren't writing, they can be found playing retro video games, spending time with their family, or cheering on their beloved Minnesota Timberwolves. Rez Ball was their debut novel; Medicine Wheels is their second book.

David A. Robertson is a two-time Governor General's Literary Award winner and has won the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the Writers' Union of Canada Freedom to Read Award. He has received several other accolades for his work as a writer for children and adults, a podcaster, a public speaker, and a social advocate. He was honoured with a Doctor of Letters from the University of Manitoba in 2023 and a Doctor of Laws from both the University of Lethbridge in 2025 and Queen’s University in 2026. He is a member of Norway House Cree Nation and lives in Winnipeg.