I'm so excited to host National Book Award finalist Hannah V. Sawyerr and award winning middle grade author Ronald L. Smith at Wilde Readings -- Howard County's longest running literary reading series. Tuesday, 10/14 at Queen Takes Book independent bookstore in Columbia, Maryland. 7 pm

It's been on my author bucket list to participate in the Chappaqua Children's Book Festival. I'm heading up to New York State to be part of this celebration of children's literature on Saturday. I grew up just an hour away from Chappaqua -- in northern NJ. Can't wait to be back in the area!

I'm excited to share that I'm leading a workshop at Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers' (WIFYR) Virtual Writing Intensive, September 18-20. I'm thrilled to be joining this community. My session is "What Happens Next: A Workshop on Story Questions." www.wifyr.com/2025-writing...

Join us as we kick off Wilde Readings Season 10 with two phenomenal authors, Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson and Danuta Hinc. The event is 7:00 p.m., Tuesday September 9th, at Queen Takes Book in Columbia Maryland. Open mic follows the reading. #wildereadingseries #hocoarts

It's time to reserve your spot in my fall session of Poetry Techniques for the Verse Novelist! Send me a DM or visit my website for more information. www.laurashovan.com

I'm so excited for @cordeliajensen.bsky.social's MG verse novel! Check out her page to enter this book giveaway.

Huge thanks to @wwph.bsky.social for highlighting my poem, "My Friend Wants to Talk About the War" at WWPH Writes today. www.washingtonwriters.org/2025/07/26/w...

The nine picture books cited in Mahmoud v. Taylor are not pornography. Nor are they obscene. "What is obscene is a Supreme Court decision that denies the basic humanity and equality of LGBTQIA+ people."

New publication -- coming this fall! Thanks to Jona Colson and Caroline Bock at Washington Writers' Publishing House for another incredible anthology: America's Future. Look for my poems "Demolition" and "The Botanist." "The Botanist" is a sci fi Golden Shovel, using the first line of "Ozymandias."

Tuesday is the grand finale of Wilde Readings Season 9. Our featured authors are poet Leona Sevick and Howard County Maryland's inaugural youth poet laureate, Mai-Anh Nguyen. Hope to see you at @queentakesbook in Columbia, MD, 7 PM, Tuesday May 10th.

Last month at the Mahmoud v. Taylor #SCOTUS hearings, a bunch of us from @authorsabb.bsky.social gathered to support our children's right to read. Photographer Mac Cosgrove-Davies took this photo with a 19th century tintype camera. @laurashovan.bsky.social

I have a new website! www.laurashovan.com. I can't say enough good things about the designer, Abby Feder. She understood exactly what I was looking for, but was also willing to have some fun with the site. www.abbyfeder.com

The May issue of my newsletter for readers and writers is out now! This time, it's all about prompts. Do you love or loathe writing prompts? What's one of the best writing prompts that you've ever worked with? Want to subscribe? Send me a DM.

Wilde Readings' May event is going to be 🔥🔥🔥! Join us May 13, 7 pm at Queen Takes Book as we host Derrick Weston Brown and Carla du Pree. If you'd like to feature at a future Wilde Readings, we encourage you to attend an event, meet the hosts, and read at our open mic.

See you Saturday, May 10, Books In Bloom -- Columbia MD. I'm performing at Spilled Milk: A Storytelling Event About Motherhood. A diverse lineup of storytellers shares unfiltered experiences—beautiful, messy, heartbreaking, and hilarious. Free registration cultureandquill.com/spilled-milk/

Our summer verse novel course (online at The Highlights Foundation ) is filling up! Four sessions with me, Meg Eden Kuyatt , and Hannah V. Sawyerr will focus on how to use poetic form to tell your best possible story. Registration is open. www.highlightsfoundation.org/workshop/int...

Help me raise money for a scholarship to The Highlights Foundation. No bids so far on my 30 minute "Ask Me Anything." I'd love this to go to a classroom teacher (or be gifted to a classroom teacher) so students can do an "Ask the Author Anything" with me. Bids close on April 30. Let's do this!

The Neurodiverse Kidlit collective is holding its first auction! There are lots of great things on offer. If you buy or win one of the items, the money will go to a neurodiverse creative scholarship fund at The Highlights Foundation. Auction closes April 30. www.ndkidlit.org/fundraising-auction/

Supreme Court rally with Authors Against Book Bans!

Inclusive Education. Today, the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor. In light of recent decisions, I am so concerned about what an unfavorable ruling will mean for LGBTQ+ students. Here is the position of the American Psychological Association. www.apa.org/about/office...

Censorship in Schools. Next week, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor. Please take a few moments to learn a little about this important case. Thank you to @glaad.bsky.social for putting together this Fact Sheet. glaad.org/fact-sheet-m...

I'm thrilled to share that I am now represented by @literarylesliez.bsky.social at Open Book Literary! Can't wait to dig in and get to work on new projects together.

How cool is this? The lovely MG author Heather Murphy Capps read poems from my book Welcome to Monsterville on Spokane Public Radio! Take a listen and happy Poetry Month! www.spokanepublicradio.org/show/poetry-...

Spotted at the Bologna Book Fair! Thanks to @pjlibrary.org for featuring A Place at the Table, by me and Saadia Faruqi. It's so great to see that our book about cross-cultural friendship continues to speak to young readers. Thanks Sandra Feder for snapping the photos! @harperkids.bsky.social

❓ Fundraising Auction spotlight: @laurashovan.bsky.social is offering a 30-min virtual AMA! Auction is live 4/15-4/30. All proceeds fund our #neurodiverse #kidlit Scholarship at @highlightsfound.bsky.social 👀 Preview Auction: champ.ly/xSRrqf-V #autis#neurodiverse#kidlit#autismsupport #adhdsupport #writingcommunity

Wilde Readings is celebrating National Poetry Month! Join us Tuesday April 8, 7 pm at Queen Takes Book in Columbia MD. I'm hosting authors Jennifer Keith and Nishi Chawla. Bring a piece for the open mic. www.facebook.com/share/164NmY...

It's National Poetry Month! Treat yourself to my private class, "Poetry Techniques for the Verse Novelist." This six session course covers: · Word & Line · Form & Stanza · Meaning · Internal/External Plot & Dialogue · Building a Scene with a Suite of Poems · Building a Manuscript DM me for info.

FREE event! Reimagine the Rainbow conference at Howard County MD's Centennial HS, April 25. Kidlit folks, come out and support Phil Bildner and Ellen Oh, who will be the keynote speakers. I will be part of a breakout session -- see the graphic. sites.google.com/hcpss.org/hc...

Guess who's coming to Wilde Readings for National Poetry Month? It's Jennifer Ciattei and Nishi Chawla! I'm excited to be hosting this event at Queen Takes Book in Columbia, MD. April 8th, 7:00 p.m. . There will be an open mic so bring a short piece to read. See you then!

I'm offering my private poetry class again! This 6 session course is for people who would like to write a verse novel but ... 1. aren't confident in their poetry skills or 2. have strong poetry skills but haven't worked on an extended narrative in verse. Reserve your spot now!

Did you know that I co-founded and co-host a local literary reading series? March 11th Wilde Readings welcomes poets Ashley Elizabeth and Sue Ellen Thompson. Visit Wilde Readings on FB for more information. Or check out our sponsor @hocopolitso.bsky.social's website for details about the event.

HaiCoup thread! It's #HaikuSaturday And I invite you to join me in the comments of this post sharing your HaiCoup. I'll share a few I've written throughout the week. They've been keeping me sane.

Are you verse curious? Join me, @medenkuyatt.bsky.social and Hannah V. Sawyer for an introductory course at @highlightsfound.bsky.social! Registration is open now at the Highlights website.

Congratulations to newsletter subscriber @karenkrossing.bsky.social !! Karen's name was drawn at random. I'm excited to send her a copy of Shifa Saltagi Safadi's National Book Award winning novel in verse, Kareem Between. Subscribe to Some Type of Magic & you'll be entered in the next giveaway.

TEACHERS AND SCHOOL LIBRARIANS! This giveaway of dozens of signed books is for you. ❤️ Because #AuthorsLoveTeachers #Edusky #Teachers #kidlit lyndamullalyhunt.wordpress.com/2025/02/14/a... Please share :)

#OOTD #MeMade duplicate stitch sweater! #MGLit Basketball books have been a slam dunk, with Greeenwald RIVALS Sonnenblick's ZEN AND THE ART OF FAKING IT and Cisneros' FALLING SHORT taking center court. Managed real shoes 3 days in a row. Can you spot @laurashovan.bsky.social nonrelated title?

As fun as it was to create a mini author zine, The Azure Snail was so much work. I'm switching to an e-newsletter. Sign up at my website. Each edition will have a mini craft essay for your writer's toolbox, a classroom friendly writing prompt, news and info about upcoming classes.

Tomorrow morning! Come join us, #NCTE educators!

AABB is gearing up to fight Proj 2025. Creating alliances. There’s strength in numbers. No longer just the right to read, it’s about the right to write! Help support the efforts to keep books out of the burn pile + librarians/teachers/authors out of jail. Sign up here docs.google.com/forms/u/0/d/...

ICYMI -- I wrote an article about Heartstopper and writing for queer teens. Check it out at SLJ's Teen Librarian Toolbox. teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2024/10/10/w... #heartstopper

Thanks to the online lit mag New Verse News for this terrific honor. My poem "Heat Dome Forecast as a Scene from a Romance Novel' is a Pushcart Prize nominee. I'm so grateful to editor James Penha for recognizing my work. 2nd time being nominated!! newversenews.blogspot.com/2024/11/our-...

Friday, 3:30 pm at NCTE. Join me, @triciaspringstubb.bsky.social, and Michelle Houts for a #BuildYourStack about books that celebrate nature. #amreading #booksaboutnature #bookrecommendations #ncte2024

Last year, Danielle Du Puis, my school system's LGBTQIA+ initiatives specialist, reached out about a teen author mentoring program she was developing with a student - a safe space for young writers who identify as being marginalized. Learn how your school can replicate Navigating the Margins.

It's banned books week. The Heartstopper graphic novels have been banned in several states. I'm a massive Heartstopper fan. I’ve been interviewing folks: When we’re writing for queer teens, what are our obligations to the audience, if any? Look for my post at SLJ’s Teen Librarian Toolbox Oct. 10.

Baltimore area folks! I'm partnering with Charm City Books to offer a writing workshop for kids. August 20, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Tickets include a writing notebook and one of my books! Visit charmcitybooks.com/events/40973 for more info.

New blog! Check out our sporty #mg books. #mglit #kidlit #olympics @laurashovan.bsky.social @yamilesmendez.bsky.social @sallye.bsky.social @sarahkapit.bsky.social nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2024/07/29/c...

Karen McCoy is featuring middle grade books with Olympic sports at www.karenbmccoy.com/middle-grade... Want to win 5 sporty books by @sallye.bsky.social @sarahkapit.bsky.social @arguellescath.bsky.social @yamilesmendez.bsky.social and me? Enter our giveaway: www.instagram.com/reel/C9x8VUy...

Newly Updated! Contemporary Native Americans in KidLit and the Kid Lit Blog Hop buff.ly/3Gj9SAy via @pragmaticmom #ReadYourWorld #AmericanIndian #KidLit #moderntimes

I'm offering my private poetry class again! This 6 session course is for people who'd like to write a verse novel, or are drafting one, but 1. aren't confident in their poetry skills or 2. have strong poetry skills but haven't worked on an extended narrative in verse. For more information, DM me.