Autumn Allen
Instructor
About Autumn
Autumn Allen writes books for children and teens, and wears many other hats in the world of children’s literature. As an educator, she leads literature circles and writing workshops for children and teens outside of traditional school settings, and teaches children's literature at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a senior editor at Barefoot Books, a small, independent publisher of children’s books in Massachusetts, where she acquires and develops picture books and board books. She also reviews books for publications like Kirkus Reviews.
Autumn was the 2020-21 Writer in Residence selected by the Associates of the Boston Public Library, where she worked on her young adult novel, All You Have to Do, which also won a 2020 Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award. All You Have to Do will be released by Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Random House, on August 29, 2023. Her picture books,Step On Board, illustrated by Ekua Holmes, and Answered Prayers, will be published by Knopf.
In 2021, Autumn was selected for the Highlights Foundation's Muslim Storytellers' Fellowship along with 15 other creatives. Autumn’s work on writing, children’s books, and parenting has appeared on the We Need Diverse Books blog, Embrace Race, and the Calling Caldecott blog. Autumn holds master's degrees in education, children's literature, and writing for children from Harvard and Simmons Universities.