Cynthia Leitich Smith

Cynthia Leitich Smith

Cynthia Leitich Smith, a citizen of the Muscogee Nation, is an award-winning author and the 2021 NSK Neustadt Laureate. Cynthia is also the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint at HarperCollins Children’s Books, and serves as the Katherine Paterson Inaugural Endowed Chair on the faculty of the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts.

In this video with Colorín Colorado, she talks about her entry into the publishing world, her books and her work on Heartdrum, and the changing landscape in publishing for Native writers and illustrators.