Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee citizen) is an acclaimed New York Times bestselling author, the 2024 Southern Mississippi Medallion Winner, an American Indian Youth Literature Award winner, and the 2021 NSK Neustadt Laureate. Cynthia is also the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint of HarperCollins, and was the inaugural Katherine Paterson Chair at the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program.
