Award-Winning Authors

Authors whose books are popular with 1st year reads, community reads, visiting writers programs!

Mike Duncan

American political history podcaster and author.  His award winning series, “The History of Rome,” remains a legendary landmark in the history of podcasting.

Charles Johnson

National Book Award winner for Middle Passage, Dr. Charles Johnson writes captivating novels that address issues of being African-American in today’s U.S. society.

Angela Shelton

Be Your Own Hero!  Angela Shelton shares heartwarming and hilarious real-life stories about moving from a life of child sexual abuse, rape and domestic violence hardships to activist, artist, performer, writer, and award-winning filmmaker.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Your personal astrophysicist and host of the Emmy Award winning, COSMOS: A SpaceTime Odyssey and StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson.  Dr. Tyson’s passion for science communication changes the way we think about the universe.

David Quammen

Internationally acclaimed science writer and National Book Award Finalist. Author of Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus. Three-time winner of the National Magazine Award (the Ellie) and author of more than 15 books.

Charles C. Mann

Offering valuable insights into the most significant events, from the European discovery of the Americas to the rise of the digital age, Charles Mann transforms our views of history. His book, The Wizard And The Prophet, asks the question “Can Earth support 10 billion people?”

Sandra Steingraber

An international anti-fracking activist & biologist who fights for environmental rights as a basic human right.

Daniel H. Wilson

Award-winning SciFi author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising, and AI & Robotics Expert,  Wilson was selected to write, “The Andromeda Evolution” with the Michael Crichton estate, which marked the 50th anniversary of “The Andromeda Strain”.

Lilly Ledbetter

The inspiration behind the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.  A bestselling author and activist, Ledbetter fights for pay equity and ignites change.

Jeffery Renard Allen

Award winning American poet, essayist, short story writer, and novelist. Winner of the P.E.N. Discovery Prize and a Whiting Writer’s Award.

Lorene Cary

Powerful storyteller, educator, and social activist delivering autobiographical, historical, and fictional stories about issues surrounding race and class.