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

Liz Garton Scanlon

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Melanie Crowder

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

A.R. Capetta

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

Anica Mrose Rissi

Faculty, MFA in WCYA

An Na

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

Alex Sanchez

Faculty, MFA in WCYA