Kristin Cashore

Kristin Cashore ‘03MA (born 1976)) is an author of young adult and fantasy novels. After obtaining her bachelor’s from Williams College, she came to Simmons to pursue her master’s in Children’s Literature. Cashore’s debut novel, Graceling (Clarion Books, 2008), earned a place on Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of the Year list and was shortlisted for the American Library Association’s Best Books for Young Adults. This young adult fantasy novel, which debuted her Graceling Realm series, explores issues of power, privilege, and vulnerability.

According to the Los Angeles Review of Books, Cashore’s Winterkeep (the fourth book of her Graceling series) exhibits “a stylistic departure from the singular perspective in her previous books. This technique lends itself well to capturing the sweeping political intrigue occurring across multiple settings. It also provides Cashore with the room to explore nuanced issues from the perspectives of the privileged and the marginalized, the insider and the foreigner. The world-building in the novel is thus notable. . . . Cashore now deviates from those conventions to create a world rich in innovative detail and diversity. Aspects such as weather patterns, languages, architecture, and even urban planning are not overlooked.” To date, Cashore has published seven novels, five of which comprise the Graceling Realm series.

Photo credit: Kevin Lin