Shadra Strickland studied design, writing, and illustration at Syracuse University and later completed her M.F.A. at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She won the Ezra Jack Keats Award and the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent in 2009 for her work on her first picture book, Bird, written by Zetta Elliott. Strickland co-illustrated Our Children Can Soar, winner of a 2010 NAACP Image Award. She has published with Lee and Low Books, Simon and Schuster, Random House, Candlewick, Chronicle Books, and Little, Brown. Her books have received recognition from the American Library Association, Junior Library Guild, and other prominent literary organizations. She is an agent-at-large with Painted-Words Represents and is represented by Lori Nowicki. Shadra is currently the Chair of Illustration at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland.
Shadra Strickland
