Five Author Questions (5AQ)

Hena Khan is an award-winning author of picture books and middle grade fiction. Her middle grade novel Amina's Voice launched Simon & Schuster's groundbreaking Salaam Reads imprint and was named a Best Book of 2017 by the Washington Post, NPR, Kirkus Reviews, and others. The sequel, Amina's Song, won the 2021 Asian/Pacific Award for Children's Literature. Hena wrote the popular Zayd Saleem Chasing the Dream series, and More to the Story, a novel inspired by her all-time favorite book, Little Women. Hena's acclaimed picture books include Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns, Under My Hijab, Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets, Night of the Moon, and It's Ramadan, Curious George. Today, Hena writes full time, often highlighting aspects of her culture, faith, community, friendship and family, and she draws heavily from own experiences. She loves exploring different formats to excite different readers, including a forthcoming graphic novel and new pick-your-path series. Hena enjoys presenting to children, educators, community members and others, and being a mom to two now teenaged boys. Whenever she gets the chance, Hena travels with her family, bakes, and reads books written by her favorite children's authors.For more info on Henna, visit her website.This episode was recorded on June 25, 2021.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Jen White is the author of Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave and A Thousand Minutes to Sunlight. She holds an M.F.A. in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives in San Clemente, California, with her family.Jen has a degree in English teaching and also earned her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in writing for children and young adults. Jen currently lives with her family and the cutest mini-aussiedoodle puppy you've ever seen.For more info on Jen, visit her website.This episode was recorded on June 21, 2021.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Samira Ahmed is the bestselling author of Love, Hate & Other Filters, Internment, Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know, and  Amira & Hamza: The War to Save the Worlds, as well as a Ms. Marvel comic book mini-series.  Her poetry, essays, and short stories have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies including the New York Times, Take the Mic, Color Outside the Lines, Vampires Never Get Old and A Universe of Wishes.She was born in Bombay, India, and grew up in Batavia, Illinois, in a house that smelled like fried onions, spices, and potpourri. A graduate of the University of Chicago, Samira has taught high school English in both the suburbs of Chicago and New York City, worked in education non-profits, and spent time on the road for political campaigns.Samira currently lives in the Midwest. When she's not reading or writing, she can be found on her lifelong quest for the perfect pastry.For all things Samira Ahmed visit her website. Follow her on Twitter @sam_aye_ahm. This episode was recorded on May 16 2021.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian. Author of the picture books The Very Last Castle (illustrated by Mark Pett), and Blue Floats Away (illustrated by Grant Snider). I write about children's books at 100scopenotes.com, and co-host a podcast about children's books called The Yarn.For more info on Travis visit www.travisjonkerbooks.com. This episode was recorded on May 21, 2021.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Sonya Bernard-Hollins is the founder and CEO of Season Press LLC. The media consulting firm was founded in 2010 after the acquisition of Community Voices, a bi-weekly community newspaper founded by Arlene and James Washington. The company has grown from providing a quarterly print and online magazine into a self-publishing company that has helped nearly 200 area authors see their dreams come true. Today, Bernard-Hollins has also published 7 of her own works that include historical children and young adult books.You can purchase Sonya's books HERE.This episode was recorded on March 29, 2021.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Peter Mulvey has been a songwriter, road-dog, raconteur and almost-poet since before he can remember. Nineteen records, an illustrated book, thousands of live performances, a TEDx talk, a decades-long association with the National Youth Science Camp, opening for luminaries such as Ani DiFranco, Emmylou Harris, and Chuck Prophet, appearances on NPR, an annual autumn tour by bicycle, emceeing festivals, hosting his own boutique festival (the Lamplighter Sessions, in Boston and Wisconsin)… Mulvey never stops. He has built his life's work on collaboration and an instinct for the eclectic and the vital. He folds everything he encounters into his work: poetry, social justice, scientific literacy, & a deeply abiding humanism are all on plain display in his art. www.petermulvey.comPeter's Patreon PageThis episode was recorded on April 12, 2021.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Betsy Bird (@FuseEight) is the Collection Development Manager of Evanston Public Library. In addition to running the School Library Journal blog about children's literature A Fuse #8 Production, Betsy reviews for Kirkus and has two podcasts about kids books. Betsy is the author of the picture books Giant Dance Party and The Great Santa Stakeout, editor of the middle grade Funny Girl, and her debut middle grade novel Long Way to the Circus illustrated by David Small is out this fall. www.betsybirdbooks.com Podcasts - Fuse 8 n' Kate and The Story Seeds. BIG NEWS! Betsy Bird is a featured speaker at the 44th Annual Youth Literature Seminar sponsored by the Kalamazoo Public Library. The event is FREE and open to the public. Click HERE for more details.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Caitlin Horrocks is author of the story collections Life Among the Terranauts and This Is Not Your City, both New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice selections. Her novel The Vexations was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2019 by the Wall Street Journal. Her stories and essays appear in The New Yorker, The Best American Short Stories, The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, The Pushcart Prize, The Paris Review, Tin House, and One Story, as well as other journals and anthologies. Her awards include the Plimpton Prize and fellowships to the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Sewanee Writers' Conference and the MacDowell Colony. She is on the advisory board of the Kenyon Review, where she formerly served as fiction editor. She teaches at Grand Valley State University and in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with the writer W. Todd Kaneko and their noisy kids.To learn more go to Caitlin's website.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Dr. Kat Williams is a Professor of Women's Sport History at Marshall University, and is author of The All-American Girls After the AAGPBL: How Playing Pro Ball Shaped Their Lives, and Isabel Lefty Alvarez: The Improbable Life of a Cuban American Baseball Star. Through her teaching, scholarship and advocacy Kat has dedicated many years to the preservation of girls' and women's baseball history. She continues that work as president and a founding member of the International Women's Baseball Center.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Katie Zhao is a 2017 graduate of the University of Michigan with a B.A. in English and Political Science, and a 2018 Masters of Accounting at the same university. She is the author of THE DRAGON WARRIOR series (Bloomsbury Kids), HOW WE FALL APART (Bloomsbury Kids), forthcoming LAST GAMER STANDING (Scholastic), and forthcoming WINNIE ZENG series (Random House Children's Books). She is represented by Penny Moore of Aevitas Creative Management. She's a passionate advocate for representation in literature and media.Check out her website - katiezhao.com and Twitter @ktzhaoauthoer!Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

M.J. will be appearing at KPL on September 28, 6:00 pm!!M. J. Kuhn is a fantasy writer by night and a mild-mannered office worker by day. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and a very spoiled cat named Thorin Oakenshield.Less than a year into her life as a full-time office-worker she began using her nights and lunch breaks to work on her first novel, and she hasn't looked back since.When she isn't reading or writing you can find her playing the piano, weightlifting, or anxiously awaiting the next installment of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire.For more info, go to www.mjkuhn.com.  Follow her on Twitter @mjkuhnbooks. Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul has adapted Stamped (For Kids), the #1 New York Times best selling children's book. She is an educator, author, and the co-founder of the Institute for Racial Equity in Literacy. Sonja is the Director of Diversity and Equity at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University and the host of The Black Creators Series. She develops curricula that centers the work of racial literacy in K-12 schools. Sonja leads presentations at educational conferences and works with educators around the world providing professional development on antiracist reading and writing instruction.For more info on Sonja, visit her website.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Married writers Deborah Ann Percy (Johnston) and Arnold Johnston live in Kalamazoo and South Haven, MI. Their individually and collaboratively written plays have won over 300 productions and readings on stage, screen, and radio, as well as numerous awards and publications across the country and internationally; and they've written, co-written, edited, or translated some twenty books.  Their award-winning poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and translations have appeared widely in literary journals and anthologies.Debby's two collections of short fiction are Cool Front: Stories from Lake Michigan (March Street Press, 2010) and Invisible Traffic (One Wet Shoe Press, 2014). Her latest projects are a fiction collection, Stepping Off into Space, and two short novels, A Second Opinion and So She Said. Arnie's books include two novels, Swept Away (Atmosphere Press, 2021) and The Witching Voice: A Novel from the Life of Robert Burns (Wings Press, 2009); three collections of  poems, Where We're Going, Where We've Been (FutureCycle Press, 2020), Sonnets: Signs and Portents (Finishing Line Press, 2014), and What the Earth Taught Us (March Street Press, 1996). His translations of Jacques Brel's songs have appeared in numerous musical revues nationwide, and are also featured on his CD, Jacques Brel: I'm Here! Arnie and Debby's collaborations include their new children's book, Mr. Robert Monkey Returns to New York (Brandylane Publishers, 2021); plays, It's About Us! (Eldridge Publishing Company, 2019), Radiation: A Month of Sun-Days (HP Publishing, 2016), Rumpelstiltskin: The True Hero (Eldridge, 2013), Beyond Sex, (HP Publishing, 2011), Rasputin in New York (Editura HP, 1999), Duets: Love is Strange (March Street Press, 2008); and an edited anthology The Art of the One-Act (New Issues Press, 2007). After a distinguished administrative career in the Kalamazoo Public Schools, Debby is now a full-time writer, as is Arnie, who was chairman of the English Department (1997-2007) at Western Michigan University, and taught there for many years as co-founder of the creative writing program and founder of the playwriting program. They are members of the Dramatists Guild, the Associated Writing Programs, Poets & Writers, and the American Literary Translators Association.Visit them at their website.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Emmy is an author and illustrator of children's books. Her first book series, Nerdy Babies, is a primer for curious babies and young readers exploring an exciting range of topics, from SPACE to DINOSAURS.A former high school teacher, Emmy taught English and science in San Francisco, CA. Moving back to Michigan, she co-founded Read and Write Kalamazoo (RAWK), a youth writing center devoted to celebrating and amplifying youth voices.Emmy lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan with her husband and three kids, two cats and their dog. Her studio (and temporary remote school) is above the family coffee shop, Factory Coffee.You can learn more about Emmy on her website - www.emmykmakes.com.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Megan Giddings' debut novel, Lakewood, was published by Amistad in 2020. It is a Michigan Notable book for 2021, was nominated for two NAACP Images Awards, was an NPR best book of 2020, a New York Magazine Best Book of 2020, and is nominated for an LA Times Book Prize. Megan is currently an assistant professor at Michigan State University and visiting faculty at Antioch University. Her next novel, The Women Could Fly, will be published by Amistad in August 2022. More about her can be found at www.megangiddings.com.To purchase a copy of Lakewood, click HERE.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Kristin Kobes Du Mez is Professor of History and Gender Studies at Calvin University. She holds a PhD from the University of Notre Dame and her research focuses on the intersection of gender, religion, and politics. She has written for the Washington Post, NBC News, Religion News Service, Christianity Today, and The Daily Beast, and has been interviewed on NPR, CBS, and the BBC, among other outlets. Her most recent book is Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. If you are in the Grand Rapids area and want to purchase a copy of the book, please go to Schuler's Books.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Luke Epplin's writing has appeared online in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, GQ, Slate, Salon, The Daily Beast, and The Paris Review Daily. Born and raised in rural Illinois, Luke now lives in New York City.You can purchase a signed copy of Our Team by clicking this LINK.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Liz Braswell spent her childhood reading fairy tales, catching frogs, and going on adventures in the woods with her stuffed animals. She has a degree in Egyptology from Brown University (and yes, she can write your name in hieroglyphs). After making video games for ten years Liz now writes full-time and plays video games for fun. She has written Snow, Rx, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, and several books in the best-selling Twisted Tales series, including Part of Your World and As Old as Time. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, two children, a cat, a part-time dog, three fish, and five coffee trees, and still sleeps with a Stuffy.  You can email her at me@lizbraswell.com or Instagram and tweet @LizBraswell. Website - www.lizbraswell.com. To purchase a book, Click HERE.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Wade Rouse is the internationally bestselling author of 11 books, including four memoirs and five novels, which have been translated into 20 languages and sold over a million copies worldwide. His books have been selected multiple times as Must-Reads by NBC's Today show, featured in USA Today, The Washington Post and Chelsea Lately and chosen three times as Indie Next Picks by the nation's independent booksellers. Wade is the noted humorist of four critically acclaimed memoirs. He was a finalist for the Goodreads Choice Awards in Humor (he lost to Tina Fey) and was named by Writer's Digest as “The #2 Writer, Dead or Alive, We'd Like to Have Drinks With” (Wade was sandwiched between Ernest Hemingway and Hunter Thompson). Wade's novels, written under the pen name Viola Shipman, are beloved by readers across the world. He chose his grandmother's name as a pen name to honor the woman whose heirlooms and family stories inspire his fiction. Wade divides his time between Saugatuck, Michigan, and Palm Springs, California, and is also an acclaimed writing teacher who has mentored numerous students to become published authors.To learn about  The Charm Bracelet, clik HERE.To get more info Wade, you can go to his website - waderouse.com.  Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Michelle Nijhuis is the author of Beloved Beasts: Fighting For Life in the Age of Extinction. She is a project editor at the Atlantic and a longtime contributing editor of High Country News. Her reporting has appeared in National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, and elsewhere, and she lives in White Salmon, Washington.For more about Michelle got to michellenijhuis.com.You can purchase a copy of the book HERE.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Episode 16 was recorded at the 2021 Edelweiss Bookfest on June 8. Over 100 attendees watched the interview via Zoom. Lydia Millet has written more than a dozen novels and story collections, often about the ties between people and other animals and the crisis of extinction. She has won awards from PEN Center USA and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and her books have been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She lives outside Tucson, Arizona. Her latest book is the critically-acclaimed,  A Children's Bible. Check out https://lydiamillet.net for all things Lydia.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Margo Rabb is the author of the novels Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize, Kissing in America, and Cures for Heartbreak; her novels have been named to multiple best-of-the-year lists, including the Amelia Bloomer Project's List of Recommended Feminist Literature. Margo's essays and short stories have been published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Slate, and elsewhere, and have been broadcast on NPR. She grew up in Queens, New York, and now lives in the Philadelphia area with her family. Visit her online at www.margorabb.com.To purchase Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize, click HERE.To read Margo's Opinion piece about the Chanticleer Garden in the New York Times, click HERE.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

TANUJA DESAI HIDIER (thisistanuja.com) is an author/singer-songwriter and innovator of the ‘booktrack’, and was selected this year to be a Good Morning America Inspiration List headliner for ABC’s network-wide project for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2021. Her pioneering debut BORN CONFUSED, considered to be the first South Asian American YA novel, was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults and was hailed by Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone Magazine, and Paste as one of the greatest YA novels of all time, and this spring, as a best Asian-American book in the Los Angeles Times’s reading guide on the Asian American experience.Tanuja’s award-winning sequel BOMBAY BLUES—deemed “a journey worth making” in a starred Kirkus review and “teeming with energy and music…a chronicle of Bombay cool” by The Hindustan Times—launched at the National Book Festival in the US and the Zee Jaipur Literary Festival in India. Bombay Blues is recipient of the South Asia Book Award.Her album WHEN WE WERE TWINS (original songs based on Born Confused) was featured in Wired (as the first ‘booktrack’). Music video “HEPTANESIA” (from her Bombay Blues booktrack album BOMBAY SPLEEN) was a BuzzPick on rotation on MTV Indies. Tanuja also produced the DEEP BLUE SHE #MUTINY2UNITY #METOO music video/PSA: an award-winning intersectionality project featuring musical guests Anoushka Shankar & Jon Faddis, and 100+ artist/activists, mostly women of color (“the ‘We Are The World’ of our times” —Outlook Magazine).Tanuja wrote the foreword to the recently released Untold: Defining Moments of the Uprooted (Mango & Marigold Press).Tanuja serves on the Board of Directors of The Telling Room, whose mission is to empower youth, including immigrants and refugees, through writing and share their voices with the world. She is currently working on her next book/album/video project. Please visit www.ThisIsTanuja.com/blog/ for resources on how to please help with the Covid crisis in India (please note: though the #BooksForHope auction has now closed, you can still donate directly here). Thanks to Tanuja for allowing 5AQ to play "Heptanesia" from her album BOMBAY SPLEEN at the end of the podcast.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @5AQpodEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Paula Yoo is an author, screenwriter, and musician. Her latest YA non-fiction book, From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement (Norton Young Readers/W.W. Norton & Co. Publication Date: April 20, 2021), is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Her other books include the YA novel Good Enough (HarperCollins 2008), an Asian/Pacific American Award for Youth Literature honor book, and the IRA Notable picture book biographies Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story, Shining Star: The Anna May Wong Story, and Twenty-two Cents: Muhammad Yunus and the Village Bank from Lee & Low Books. She has also written three books for Lee & Low’s “Confetti Kids” early reader series and has a chapter book series coming out in 2022 from Lee & Low. As a TV writer/producer, her credits range from NBC’s The West Wing to The CW’s Supergirl, and she has sold multiple TV pilots and feature scripts. She is also a former journalist (The Seattle Times, The Detroit News, and PEOPLE Magazine). She graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in English, an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College, where she was the recipient of the Larry Levis Fiction Fellowship. When she’s not writing, Paula is a professional freelance violinist who has played and toured with orchestras and such national recording acts as No Doubt, Il Divo, Fun, and Love. Website: https://paulayoo.comFollow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @AuthorFiveEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Wesley Stace has published four novels, including the international bestseller Misfortune, and recently co-wrote Mark Morris’ memoir Out Loud. Since 1988, he has released many albums under the name John Wesley Harding - his most recent, 2018’s Wesley Stace’s John Wesley Harding, with the Jayhawks as his backing band - and recorded duets with, among others, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed and Rosanne Cash. He also created Cabinet of Wonders, a monthly show that plays at New York City’s City Winery, and which The New Yorker called “one of the finest nights of entertainment this city has to offer.” He has taught at Princeton, Swarthmore and Fairleigh-Dickinson, and writes regularly for the Times Literary Supplement and the Wall Street Journal.To read more about Stace's critically-acclaimed books and music, go to his website - www.wesleystace.com. You can purchase music on Bandcamp - https://wesleystace.bandcamp.com or the World Wide Wes Shop - https://world-wide-wes.myshopify.com. MANY THANKS to Wes for writing our new theme song!Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @AuthorFiveEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Jill Santopolo is the internationally bestselling author of Everything After, More Than Words, and The Light We Lost, which was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick. Her books have been translated into more than 36 languages and have been named the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Apple, and Indiebound bestseller lists. She has also written three children's book series and edits for Penguin Young Readers.If you would like to purchase any of Jill's books, you can go to her website, www.jillsantopolo.com.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @AuthorFiveEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

TY McCORMICK is an editor at Foreign Affairs, the magazine published by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. A former foreign correspondent in Nairobi and before that in Cairo, he has reported from more than a dozen countries in Africa and the Middle East. From 2015 to 2018, he served as Africa editor of Foreign Policy magazine, where he led a team of reporters that won a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for a series on African migration. He has also written for The New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, New Republic, and National Geographic, among others. Beyond the Sand and Sea, about a family of Somali refugees' 30-year odyssey to reach the United States, is his first book.For more information about Beyond the Sand and Sea, and where to purchase CLICK HERE.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @AuthorFiveEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Walter M. Mayes is the librarian at The Girls' Middle School in Palo Alto, CA, where he has spent the last two decades sharing his lifelong passion for books. A noted expert on literature for children and teens, Walter has presented all over the country, as well as serving as a judge for numerous literary awards and prizes, among them the LA Times Book Prize, the Odyssey Award, and the Michael L. Printz Award. He is the author of WALTER THE GIANT STORYTELLER'S GIANT BOOK OF GIANT STORIES and co-author of VALERIE & WALTER'S BEST BOOKS FOR CHILDREN with Valerie Lewis. In addition to his work as a librarian and writer, Walter is a professional storyteller, an auctioneer, an actor and director, an audiobook narrator, and a Jeopardy Champion (January 1992; five games; $56,003). He likes cookies.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @AuthorFiveEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Libby Copeland is an award-winning journalist who has written for the Washington Post, New York magazine, the New York Times, the Atlantic, and many other publications. She specializes in the intersection of science and culture. Copeland was a reporter and editor at the Post for eleven years has been a media fellow and guest lecturer and has made numerous appearances on television and radio.The Lost Family explores the rapidly evolving phenomenon of home DNA testing, its implications for how we think about family and ourselves, and its ramifications for American culture broadly. The Wall Street Journal says it’s “a fascinating account of lives dramatically affected by genetic sleuthing.” The New York Times writes, “Before You Spit in That Vial, Read This Book.” The Washington Post says The Lost Family “reads like an Agatha Christie mystery” and “wrestles with some of the biggest questions in life: Who are we? What is family? Are we defined by nature, nurture or both?”Copies of The Lost Family, signed and personalized by Libby Copeland, can be purchased through The Village Bookstore in Pleasantville, NY (Attention: Jennifer Kohn, 914-769-8322).Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @AuthorFiveEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Anton Treuer (pronounced troy-er) is Professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University and author of many books. His equity, education, and cultural work has put him on a path of service around the region, the nation, and the world. https://antontreuer.comYoung Reader edition of Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask was released on April 6, 2021. Click this link for more info and how to purchase.Follow on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Follow on Twitter - @AuthorFiveEmail 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Gail Griffin was born in Detroit and raised in its suburbs and in Ann Arbor, where she reveled in literature and rock music. One of her proudest claims to fame is having seen the Beatles in concert in Detroit in 1964. She went away to school and came back to take a teaching position at Kalamazoo College, where she taught literature, writing, and women's studies for 36 years. There she won awards fo teaching and for creative/scholarly work, and she was chosen Michigan Professor of the Year in 1995. She has published four books of nonfiction, including Grief's Country: A Memoir in Pieces and The Events of October: Murder-Suicide on a Small Campus. She is currently looking through a huge stack of poems to see whether a book might be hiding there, and she has her mind on a collection of personal essays on whiteness and confronting racism. Since retiring from K College she has offered workshops in anti-racist white consciousness and building white allies for community groups and organizations. She lives in West Main Hill with a black cat named Nell, and her enduring life goal is to spend as much time as possible at the northwest Lake Michigan shore.Follow 5AQ on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Email 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Cesar Brioso is a digital producer and former baseball editor for USA Today Sports. Aside from Havana Hardball, he is the author Last Seasons in Havana: The Castro Revolution and the End of Professional Baseball in Cuba, winner of the 2020 SABR Baseball Research Award.Follow 5AQ on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Email 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Natalie Standiford was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and studied Russian language and literature at Brown University and in the former Soviet Union. She has written many books for children and teens, including How to Say Goodbye in Robot; The Secret Tree; and Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters. Her book reviews and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. She lives with her husband in New York City, where she occasionally plays bass in rock bands with other restless writers. Find out more at NatalieStandiford.com.Astrid Sees All, Natalie's debut Adult novel, is a love letter to gritty 1980s New York City, The book is an irresistible, original novel about female friendship, sex and romance, and what it’s like to be a young woman searching for an identity.Follow 5AQ on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Email 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Jerry Craft is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the graphic novels New Kid and Class Act. New Kid was the winner of the 2020 John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature. In addition, New Kid was awarded the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature. He is also the recipient of the Coretta Scott King Author Award for the most outstanding work by an African American writer. For all things Jerry, please visit - www.jerrycraft.com.Purchase Jerry's books - jerrycraft.com/buy-the-book/Follow 5AQ on Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Email 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

David Levithan is the author and co-author of over twenty books including the critically acclaimed and bestselling, Boy Meets Boy, Every Day, Nick & Nora’s Infinite Playlist, and Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares (now a Netflix Series). In 2016, David won ALA’s Margaret A. Edwards Award for his significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature. David is also the only author who was picketed by an angry mob of three while visiting KPL. His newest book, The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. was released on February 2 of this year.For all things, David go to www.davidlevithan.com.This podcast is presented by the Kalamazoo Public Library. Follow 5AQ on Twitter and Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Email 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King

Jacqueline Woodson is the author of more than two dozen award-winning books for young adults, middle graders, children, and now adults. Woodson was the 2020 recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award and is a 2020 MacArthur Fellow. Among her many other accolades, she is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a three-time National Book Award finalist, and a three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner. She was named Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation in 2015 and was also named the 2018 Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress. Jacqueline Woodson has also been selected as the Kalamazoo Public Library’s Reading Together Author of 2021. The Kalamazoo community is celebrating Woodson by reading six of her novels this spring. www.jacquelinewoodson.com This podcast is presented by the Kalamazoo Public Library. Follow 5AQ on Twitter and Instagram - @fiveauthorquestions Email 5AQ - podcasts@kpl.gov 5AQ is produced by Jarrod Wilson. The technical producer is Brian Bankston. 5AQ is hosted by Sandra Farag and Kevin King