Jen Bryant
Photo credit Amy Dragoo, 2008, Daily Local News
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Jen Bryant writes picturebooks, novels and poems for readers of all ages. Her biography A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, received a Caldecott Honor. Their second collaboration, A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin, won an ALA Schneider Family Book Award, the NCTE Orbis Pictus award, and a Sibert Honor. The third Bryant/Sweet book, The Right Word: Peter Mark Roget and His Thesaurus, won the Sibert Medal and a Caldecott Honor. Jen’s novel in verse, Ringside 1925: Views from the Scopes Trial, is an Oprah Recommended Book for ages 12 and up. Above the Rim: How Elgin Baylor Changed Basketball has won numerous awards including the 2021 Orbis Pictus Award.
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Other titles include Pieces of Georgia (IRA Young Adult Choices Pick); The Trial (1935 Lindbergh kidnapping trial, a Borders New Voices Pick); Kaleidoscope Eyes (a 1960’s–era novel, a Junior Library Guild Selection); The Fortune of Carmen Navarro (Paterson Prize for Young People); Georgia’s Bones, celebrating the life of artist Georgia O’Keeffe; and Music for the End of Time, based on a true WWII story. Jen’s poems appear frequently in anthologies for young readers and adults.
Jen has a BA from Gettysburg College, an MA from Arcadia University, and an Honorary Doctorate from Gettysburg College. She has taught writing and children’s literature at West Chester University and Bryn Mawr College and gives school and public lectures throughout the year. She lives with her family in Chester County, PA. When she’s not writing or taming the piles on her desk, Jen enjoys visiting museums, swimming, cycling, listening to music, and cheering wildly for the Phillies. You can learn more about Jen Bryant on her website.
Jen has a BA from Gettysburg College, an MA from Arcadia University, and an Honorary Doctorate from Gettysburg College. She has taught writing and children’s literature at West Chester University and Bryn Mawr College and gives school and public lectures throughout the year. She lives with her family in Chester County, PA. When she’s not writing or taming the piles on her desk, Jen enjoys visiting museums, swimming, cycling, listening to music, and cheering wildly for the Phillies. You can learn more about Jen Bryant on her website.
Jen's Process
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In this interview, Jen Bryant talks about how she came up with the idea of writing about Elgin Baylor and her immersive process of research. As a prolific biographer, she has developed some useful strategies, such as:
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Jen's Books
