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.
Hannah Teachout earned her MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and interned in the children’s department of Tobias Literary Agency. Currently, she works as a literary assistant at Folio Literary Management, supporting Senior Vice President John Cusick and Literary Agent Lauren Spieller. She loves a good adventure on and off the page but is especially drawn to the stories that dig into themes of identity and explore the metaphors of magic and monsters. She works on middle grade, young adult, and adult fiction across genres and loves a speculative or romantic bent and distinct voice.