Gary D. Schmidt is the author of middle grade and young adult novels, as well as several picture book biographies. The Wednesday Wars won a Newbery Honor, and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy won both a Newbery Honor and Printz Honor. Okay for Now was a National Book Award finalist and a Children’s Choice winner. Orbiting Jupiter has garnered nominations in many state contests. His latest novel is Styx and Stones. He has taught writing, children’s literature, and medieval literature at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI, and at Hamline University in the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults Program.
Irene Vázquez is a literary scout with the children’s scouting team at Maria. B. Campbell Associates. They recently joined MBCA after working as an editor at Levine Querido. Born in New Orleans, raised in Houston, and now living in New York, Irene is also a poet, translator, and essayist. They are a graduate of Yale University, where they studied English and Ethnicity, Race, and Migration.
Sheyla Knigge is an agent with High Line Literary Collective. She spent several years sleuthing through the submissions in Victoria Marini’s query inbox, and is now actively using the skills she sharpened in that capacity to build her own dynamic bookshelf filled with the talented authors she currently represents. A mentee of the Literary Agents of Change 24-25 cohort, Sheyla is an expert at discovering fresh voices and relentlessly advocating for the successful publication of the stories she loves. Her unwavering enthusiasm for her authors is contagious, and she possesses an unrivaled ability to match authors with ideal homes for their books. When she’s not working, you can find Sheyla tucked away writing, getting more tattoos, or spending time with her family in the Appalachian Mountains.
Chelsea Moyer has been promoted to Literary Agent at Raven Quill Literary Agency. She’s enthusiastically preparing to build a list of stories that are fantastical, fierce, and filled with “big feelings” in Middle Grade, YA, and Adult categories. Prior to Raven Quill, Chelsea graduated with her Master’s Degree from the Vermont College of Fine Arts Writing for Children and Young Adults program, and gained experience in the publishing industry as an Agency intern and Adult Department Assistant.