LitUp Festival

Christina is the author of The Black Kids, her New York Times bestselling William C. Morris Award Finalist debut novel. She holds an MFA from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. A native of the Los Angeles area, her work has previously appeared in the Santa Monica Review and One Teen Story.

Neal is the New York Times best-selling author of over thirty novels for children, teens, and adults. He won the 2015 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for Challenger Deep—and his novel, Scythe, was a 2017 Michael L. Printz Honor book—and is in development with Universal Studios as a feature film.

Julie is the New York Times bestselling author of the 2020 NCTE Walden Award and SCBWI Golden Kite Award winner Lovely War, the 2017 Printz Honor and LA Times Book Prize-shortlisted The Passion of Dolssa, the Carnegie and Edgar-shortlisted All the Truth That’s in Me, the Odyssey Honor The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place, and others. Her picture books include Long Ago, on a Silent Night; Happy Right Now, and Cranky Right Now. Julie holds a BS from Rensselaer in communication and an MFA from Vermont College. Julie recently bought Medina’s bookstore and reinvented it as Author’s Note.

Susan Vollenweider and Beckett Graham are the hosts of the award-winning podcast, The History Chicks. Dedicated to introducing everyone to the female characters-both factual and fictional-in history, the podcast have revealed the stories of women in history from Marie Antoinette and Lizzie Borden to Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Frida Kahlo. Vollenweider and Graham live and podcast in the Kansas City area.

Trung Le Capecchi-Nguyen (Trung Le Nguyen, professionally) is a Vietnamese-American comic book artist and storyteller from Minnesota. He was born in a refugee camp somewhere in the Philippine province of Palawan.

Trung has contributed work for Oni Press, Boom! Studios, and Image Comics, largely in the romance genre. His first original graphic novel, The Magic Fish, debuted October 13, 2020 through Random House Graphic, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Trung currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota and raises three very spoiled hens. He is particularly fond of fairy tales, kids' cartoons, and rom-coms of all stripes.

Shay Alexi (they/them) is a multi-disciplinary artist and writer living on unceded Muskogee-Creek land in Atlanta, GA. They are the author of Diary of a Ghost Girl (Glass Poetry Press), and their work has been featured in The Rumpus, Homology Lit, WUSSY, and Apogee, amongst others. Videos of Shay’s poems have garnered over 5 million online views. Shay is a freelance illustrator and communications professional, and they hold a B.F.A. in Acting. They are a Pisces Sun with a Pisces Moon and would like to remind you to drink some water. Connect with Shay on Twitter and Instagram at @_shayalexi_

Kansas City based rapper and entrepreneur Royce "Sauce" Handy is bringing his "Deeper Than Rap" series to LitUP! This class will show and prove how Hip-Hop is deeper than what people see or think they know about it. From its roots to current day usage, the language of Hip-Hop culture has influenced the world and led conversations on important topics like mental health, social justice, freedom and more. If you're a fan of creative writing, poetry, or rap music, this is one class you don't want to miss!

Writers are like magpies, collecting shiny bits of inspiration everywhere they go. Join Kansas authors Megan Bannen (The Bird and the Blade; Soulswift) and Amanda Sellet (By the Book; Belittled Women) for a hands-on workshop full of ideas for finding that initial spark and turning it into a story. In addition to sharing behind-the-scenes details from their own books, the authors will lead participants through a group story-building exercise.

Join James Rumfelt, a one-time small town Missouri kid who turned his passion for art into a career as a self-published illustrator, game creator, art director, and award-winning illustrator and animator within the DOD, to learn how to clearly defining your terms and what “making it” as a creative really means. Discover tips and tricks for making a living as an illustrator and how illustration is among the few “jedi” skills that you can utilize and practice throughout your life.

Learn how a group of students started the Social Justice Club at their high school and now engage with teens from around the world organizing international art contests, facilitating conversations on social and environmental justice for elementary and middle school students, and holding regular Zoom conversations on Zoom on how teens can help each other better serve their communities.