Profile

Shelley Tanaka is the author of more than twenty nonfiction books for children and young adults, including seven titles in the award-winning I Was There series (On Board the Titanic).

Her books have won the Orbis Pictus Award, the Mr. Christie’s Book Award, the Science in Society Book Award and the Information Book Award, and she has twice been nominated for the Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis; other honors include Texas Bluebonnet runner-up, VOYA Nonfiction Honor List, SLJ Best Book, ALA Notable and IRA Young Adults’ Choice. Her books have been translated into nine languages. Shelley is also a translator, and she is the long-time fiction editor at Groundwood Books.

Education

MA - Comparative Literature | University of Toronto

BA - English/German | Queen's University

Selected work

Anica Mrose Rissi

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Jasmine Warga

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Jane Kurtz

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

A.S. King

Faculty (On Leave), MFA in WCYA

William Alexander

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Sara Ryan

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Cory McCarthy

Faculty (On Leave), MFA in WCYA

David Macinnis Gill

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

K.A. Holt

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

An Na

Faculty, MFA in WCYA; Writing Novels for Young People Retreat

Varian Johnson

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Evan Griffith

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Liz Garton Scanlon

Faculty Co-Chair, MFA in WCYA

Martine Leavitt

Faculty, MFA in WCYA; Alumnx Mini-Residency

Linda Urban

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Sheela Chari

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Melanie Crowder

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Cynthia Leitich Smith

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Alex Sanchez

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Fran Wilde

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Mary Quattlebaum

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Martha Brockenbrough

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Emily X.R. Pan

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Corey Ann Haydu

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Loree Griffin Burns

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Anna-Marie McLemore

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Erica Perl

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Jennifer Ziegler

Faculty Co-Chair, MFA in WCYA

Louise Hawes

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Veera Hiranandani

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Laura Shovan

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Kekla Magoon

Faculty Emerita, MFA in WCYA