Long Bio:​

Born in Lima, Peru, Natalia Sylvester is an award-winning author of books for children, teens, and young adults, among them RUNNING (2020) and EVERYONE KNOWS YOU GO HOME (2018), which won the International Latino Book Award and the 2019 Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Work of Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters. Her latest YA novel, BREATHE AND COUNT BACK FROM TEN, was named a Pura Belpré honor book and Schneider Family honor book in 2023 by the American Library Association, and is a 2024-2025 Florida Teens Read title. Natalia's first picture book, A MALETA FULL OF TREASURES (illustrated by Juana Medina) is a Junior Library Guild Selection for both its English and Spanish versions.
 
Natalia's non-fiction has appeared in the New York Times, Bustle, Catapult, Electric Literature, Latina magazine, and McSweeney's Publishing. Her essays have been anthologized in collections such as A MAP IS ONLY ONE STORY and A MEASURE OF BELONGING: WRITERS OF COLOR ON THE NEW AMERICAN SOUTH.

Natalia received a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Miami, was a 2021 Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and was formerly a faculty member at the Mile-High MFA program at Regis University. She now lives in South Florida.

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