Lesléa Newman is the author of 70 books for readers of all ages, including Remembering Ethan; A Letter to Harvey Milk; October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard; I Carry My Mother; The Boy Who Cried Fabulous; Ketzel, the Cat Who Composed; Heather Has Two Mommies; Sparkle Boy; and Gittel’s Journey: An Ellis Island Story.

She has received many literary awards, including creative writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation, two American Library Association Stonewall Honors, the Massachusetts Book Award, the Association of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Award, the Highlights for Children Fiction Writing Award, a Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fiction Writing grant, the James Baldwin Award for Cultural Achievement, the Cat Writer’s Association Muse Medallion, and the Dog Writers Association of America’s Maxwell Medallion. Nine of her books have been Lambda Literary Award Finalists.

From 2005–2009, Lesléa was on the faculty of the Stonecoast MFA program at the University of Southern Maine. From 2008–2010, she served as the Poet Laureate of Northampton, Massachusetts. She has taught fiction writing at Clark University and currently she is a faculty mentor at Spalding University’s brief residency MFA in Writing program.