GPLF 2027
We are thrilled to announce the 2027 Great Plains Literacy Festival will be held on April 21 & 22, 2027.
GPLF will feature five incredible authors and illustrators: Joe Cepeda, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Victoria Kann, Alan Katz, and Lauren Tarshis.
Preferring grace over style, message over technique, and story over extravagance, Joe seeks to create work with integrity and authenticity at its core.
After years of illustrating stories written by others, including many notable authors, Joe is entrenched in writing his own. A sought-after presenter to schools and conferences, Joe relishes every new opportunity to share his experience and advocate for his craft.
Joe Cepeda
Margaret Peterson Haddix grew up on a farm near Washington Court House, Ohio. She graduated from Miami University (of Ohio) with degrees in English/journalism, English/creative writing and history. Before her first book was published, she worked as a newspaper copy editor in Fort Wayne, Indiana; a newspaper reporter in Indianapolis; and a community college instructor and freelance writer in Danville, Illinois.
She has since written 50 books for kids and teens, including Running Out of Time; Uprising; The School for Whatnots; the Greystone Secrets series; the Shadow Children series; the Missing series; The Mysteries of Trash and Treasure series; and The Palace Chronicles. She also wrote Into the Gauntlet, the tenth book in the 39 Clues series. Her books have been honored with New York Times bestseller status, an Edgar Allan Poe Award for best juvenile mystery; the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award; American Library Association Best Book and Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers notations; and numerous state reader’s choice awards. They have also been translated into more than twenty different languages.
Haddix and her husband, Doug, now live in Columbus, Ohio. They are the parents of two grown kids.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Victoria Kann is the award-winning illustrator and author of the picture book series featuring the whimsical and effervescent character, Pinkalicious. Victoria co-authored and illustrated the first two books, Pinkalicious, Purplicious as well as the play, Pinkalicious The Musical. She wrote and illustrated Goldilicious, Silverlicious, Emeraldalicious, Aqualicious, Peterrific, and is working on several more books about the adventures and antics of Pinkalicious.
The Pinkalicious character was inspired by Victoria’s real life daughters – two girls with vibrant imaginations who love cupcakes, dress up, playing princess, and all things pink. Recently Victoria’s husband, a toy designer, built a tree house for their Princess Pinkerbelles. She often hears galloping in the house and wonders if it’s Goldilicious or just her Pinkerellas.
Victoria is the co-executive producer of Pinkalicious & Peterrific on PBS Kids.
Victoria Kann
Alan Katz takes writing seriously. That said, what he writes is usually funny. Maybe that’s why they call him a Seriously Silly Guy.
Running the gamut from board books to picture books, middle-grade series, trivia sets and more, Alan is the author of more than 50 highly acclaimed children’s books, including Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs, Don’t Say That Word!, OOPS!, Poems I Wrote When No One Was Looking, Ricky Vargas: The Funniest Kid in the World, The Day the Mustache Took Over, and Awesome Achievers in Technology.
Among his newest titles are the New York Times bestseller Misty the Cloud: A Very Story Day (written with the Today Show’s Dylan Dreyer) and its sequel Misty the Cloud: Friends Through Rain or Shine. He’s greatly looking forward to the January 2023 release of his collaboration with Alex Willan, a picture book entitled Got Your Nose.
Alan’s other recent releases also include Really Stupid Stories for Really Smart Kids, the first three titles in the Lieographies series (Babe Ruth, Amelia Earhart and Thomas Edison), three Elf Academy early readers, and the five-book Society of Superheroes (S.o.S.) series.
Alan’s multimedia presentation generates many laughs, of course. But more important, it gets students energized about reading and writing; it’s not unusual for kids to unleash their poetic voices and creativity immediately following his visits.
Alan has won many state awards for writing. He is also a six-time Emmy-nominated writer for TV series including The Rosie O’Donnell Show, animated series Pinkalicious, Taz-Mania, Disney’s Raw Toonage and Goof Troop, the Grammy Awards and Tony Awards, and a ton of specials and game shows on Nickelodeon and other networks. He’s written for publications including The New York Times and the New York Daily News and has crafted humor and special material for standup performers, theme park shows, and more. Alan was an XM Kids radio host, and he has also created comic books, trading card sets, web videos, TV commercials and hundreds of other special projects for kids and their parents. His new stage musical based on his Silly Dilly songbooks is currently touring; watch for it at a theater near you!
Alan and his journalist wife Rose are the proud parents of four incredible kids: Simone, Andrew, Nathan, and David. The family lives in New Haven County, Connecticut, where they dutifully live by the three most important words in the English language: Let’s Go Mets!
Alan Katz
I live in Connecticut with my husband and four children. My parents, mother-in-law, my brother and sister-in-law and three nieces all live right around us. This makes me very happy.
When I’m not with my family, or working on Storyworks, a great magazine for kids, or writing, I like to be with my friends. I met my two best friends when I was 11 years old, and I still talk to one or the other almost every single day.
As I get older, I try harder and harder to learn new things. Learning to write a novel for young people was a process that took many, many years. This year I learned how to create this web site (which was really fun). I also learned to bake perfect chocolate chip cookies (the secret: put the dough in the fridge for an hour or so before you bake them). And I learned how to hike in the wilderness. My first time, my friend and I got lost and a mysterious old man appeared from nowhere to help us. Otherwise we might still be there. We learned our lesson (bring a compass and good maps.)
I’m still thinking about what to learn next year.