Short bio:
Born in Poland and raised in the United States, Anna Staniszewski grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. She was named the 2006-2007 Writer-in-Residence at the Boston Public Library and a winner of the 2009 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award. Currently, Anna lives outside of Boston with her husband and their adopted black Labrador, Emma.
When she’s not writing, Anna spends her time teaching, reading, and challenging unicorns to games of hopscotch. She is the author of My Very UnFairy Tale Life and its sequel, My Epic Fairy Tale Fail, both published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. The third book in the trilogy, My Sort Of Fairy Tale Ending, will be out in November 2013. Look for Anna’s next tween series, The Dirt Diaries, in 2014, and her first picture book, Dogosaurus Rex, forthcoming from Henry Holt.
Long bio:
Born in Warsaw, Poland and raised in Westborough, Massachusetts, I grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. I spent many hours of my childhood churning out terrible poems and books (in English) on an ancient, Polish typewriter. I dreamt of being a writer, a teacher, an actress, and a ballerina.
After high school, I attended Sarah Lawrence College where I received a BFA in Theater. After some twists and turns, I found myself working at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, Mass. Being surrounded by people who were wildly passionate about children’s books rekindled my love of writing. I moved to Boston and attended Simmons College where I received an MA in Children’s Literature and an MFA in Writing for Children.
In 2006 I was lucky enough to be chosen as the Writer-in-Residence for the Boston Public Library. After my residency, I began teaching courses on writing and children’s literature at Simmons College and at other institutions in the Boston area. In 2009, my manuscript, The Tinkerers, was chosen as a winner of the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award.
These days, I no longer write on an old typewriter; instead, I have a small office where I sit at a tiny desk and type away on my slightly-less-noisy computer. I’m represented by Ammi-Joan Paquette at the Erin Murphy Literary Agency. My debut novel, My Very UnFairy Tale Life, was published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky in November 2011, and its sequel, My Epic Fairy Tale Fail, was released in March 2013. The third book in the trilogy, My Sort Of Fairy Tale Ending, is coming in November 2013. My next tween series, The Dirt Diaries, is scheduled for 2014, and look for my first picture book, Dogosaurus Rex, forthcoming from Henry Holt.
Find Me On the Internet:
The Enchanted Inkpot – a community of fantasy authors
The Elevensies – a community of authors whose novels debut in 2011
First Page Panda – a website that features new books for children and young adults–and pandas
Dogosaurus Rex – photos of my very own dogosaur on Tumblr
