Kwame Alexander

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, Emmy-winning producer and #1 New York Times bestselling author of 41 books, including the upcoming release "Black Star," the second installment of his Door of "No Return" trilogy, "This Is The Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets," "Why Fathers Cry at Night," "An American Story," "The Door of No Return," "Becoming Muhammad Ali" (co-authored with James Patterson), "Rebound," which was shortlisted for the prestigious UK Carnegie Medal, and "The Undefeated," the National Book Award nominee, Newbery Honor, and Caldecott Medal-winning picture book illustrated by Kadir Nelson.

Alexander is also the Emmy-winning Executive Producer, Showrunner, and Writer of "The Crossover" TV series, based on his Newbery-Medal winning novel of the same name, which premiered on Disney+ in April 2023. The series was produced in partnership with LeBron James' SpringHill Company and Big Sea Entertainment, Alexander's production company that is dedicated to creating innovative, highly original children’s and family entertainment. Other current projects in development at Big Sea include "America’s Next Great Author," the groundbreaking reality television series for writers.

A regular contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, Alexander is the creator and host of the "Why Fathers Cry" podcast, premiering September 2023, featuring conversations about love and parenting and loss, with fathers and sons. He regularly shares his passion for literacy, books and the craft of writing around the world at events like the Chautauqua Lecture Series, the Edinburgh Book Festival, Aspen Ideas, and the Global Literacy Symposium in Ghana, where he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana. Most recently he was appointed the Rudell Artistic Director of Literary Arts and Writer-in-Residence at the Chautauqua Institution.

His mission is to change the world, one word at a time.