Biography
Everything that you ever wanted to know about me, and probably more. If there's anything you want to know that's actually not on this page somewhere, please email me and ask!
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The Short Version:
Michelle Knudsen is a Nebula Award–winning and New York Times best-selling author of 50+ books for young readers and a writer of speculative short fiction for adults. Her books include Library Lion (Time magazine's 100 Best Children's Books of All Time), The Dragon of Trelian (Kids' Indie Next List; VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers), and Evil Librarian (YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults; Sid Fleischman Humor Award). Her latest titles are the middle grade fantasy novel Into the Wild Magic (2025 Andre Norton Nebula Award) and the young adult novel Cursed Princess Club: Mirror, Mirror. A lifelong musical theater lover, Michelle is thrilled that two of her books have now been made into musicals! (Catch Library Lion's return to Boston January 2027!) She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with three humans, two cats, and one snake. Find her on Instagram @michelle.knudsen, Bluesky @michelleknudsen.bsky.social, or at michelleknudsen.com.
The Somewhat Longer Version:
Like many writers, I've been writing for about as long as I can remember. When I was very young, I mainly liked writing poems. I started writing short stories in high school and college, and sold a few nonfiction magazine articles, but never really thought about writing children's books until I was hired as an editorial assistant in the children's division of Random House. I wrote several books for Random as part of my job (children's book editors sometimes write books "in-house") and eventually began writing and submitting my own manuscripts. It’s great how life surprises you sometimes. I fell into children’s books pretty much by accident, and I'm so glad I did! I love writing books for young readers.
So far I've written more than 50 books, including board books, beginning readers, picture books, coloring and activity books, and middle-grade and young adult novels. I've also written some uncredited novelty and licensing titles. One of my best-known books is Library Lion, which was a New York Times bestseller, won many awards, and has been translated into many languages. It's also now being performed as a musical! Check back on my website and/or sign up for my newsletter for more updates/locations! My newest books are the middle grade fantasy novel Into the Wild Magic and the YA novelization Cursed Princess Club: A Most Unusual Princess (based on the popular webcomic by LambCat!).
I also write short stories for older readers, including one that was a 2023 British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) finalist for Best Audio Fiction!
When I’m not writing, I love going for walks, hanging out with friends, binge-watching shows with my husband and stepdaughters (or by myself after everyone else goes to bed), and playing fantasy RPGs (I just started a new IRL D&D game which makes me so happy, and I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the third installment of my favorite RPG video game). And reading, of course! I also go to see Broadway shows with my best friends from high school as often as I can. I used to perform in community theater musicals, but I don't have enough free time right now for rehearsals, so most of my singing these days happens at karaoke. I miss being in muscials, though!
I have an MFA in writing for children and young adults from The Vermont College of Fine Arts. I was an MFA instructor for 10 years at Lesley University (when it was still the wonderful original Lesley MFA in Creative Writing; please note I am not affiliated with the current incarnation of the program), and I teach occasional visiting writer classes at other colleges and universities. Get in touch if you'd like me to come speak at your school!
Agent and Publisher Info:
My agent is the fabulous Jodi Reamer at Writers House, LLC.
My books have been published by Candlewick Press, Random House (both before and after they became Penguin Random House), Golden Books (before they were purchased by Random House), Simon & Schuster, Wattpad/Webtoon, and Kane Press (now part of Astra Publishing House).