Shutta Crum is a long-time resident of Ann Arbor who now divides her time between Ann Arbor and St. Augustine, Florida. She served as a public librarian at both the South Lyon Public Library and the Ann Arbor District Library for more than twenty four years and was awarded the Michigan Library Association Award of Merit as the youth librarian of the year in 2002. She is the author of many middle grade novels, picture books, books of poetry, poems, and magazine articles, including THUNDER-BOOMER! an American Library Association and a Smithsonian Magazine “Notable Book” of the year. She’s won four Royal Palm Literary awards, with a gold for her chapbook When You Get Here (Poems for Adults), and she has been nominated for a Pushcart prize. In 2005 Shutta was invited to read at the White House. In 2010 she presented to students in Japan, hosted by the Dept. of Defense Schools. Now she writes the monthly Wordsmith’s Playground newsletter for writers, blogs for the Florida Writers Association, and writes a column on craft for the OPAP magazine (Of Poets & Poetry) for the Florida State Poet’s Association. Her presentations include author talks, lectures, and workshops for writers, teachers, and librarians.