Headliner, 2021 Storytelling Festival
Saturday, 10/9/21, at 7PM
Earlier on Saturday, Deedy will lead a workshop on the craft of storytelling

Carmen Agra Deedy is the author of twelve books for children, including The Library Dragon, The Cheshire Cheese Cat, Martina the Beautiful Cockroach, The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet! and 14 Cows for America, a New York Times Bestseller. Rita and Ralph’s Rotten Day! (Scholastic Press) was released in 2020. Her personal stories first appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered. Funny, insightful, and frequently irreverent, Deedy’s narratives are culled from her childhood as a Cuban refugee in Decatur, Georgia. She is host of the four-time Emmy-winning children’s program, Love That Book!

An award-winning author and storyteller, Deedy is also an accomplished lecturer, having been a guest speaker for both the TED and TEDx Conferences, the Library of Congress, Columbia University, the National Book Festival, and the Kennedy Center, among other distinguished venues. A life-long supporter of the institution, she opened the 2016 Art of the Book Lecture Series for the Smithsonian Libraries.

Deedy was appointed a member of the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board in October 2019.

Her newest picture book, The Children’s Moon (Scholastic Press),

illustrated by Jim LaMarche, is projected to be released in 2021.

The Poet Laureate initiative, created in 2018 by SOMOS in conjunction with the Town of Taos, raises awareness of Taos as a national center for the contemporary literary arts. Catherine Strisik is our second laureate. She will serve throughout 2020 and 2021.