Highlights Foundation Scholarship Success Stories
Scholarship Recipient Christine Hartman Derr Thrives at Native Creatives Retreat
Christine Hartman Derr is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She’s a graduate from VCFA’s Writing for Children MFA program, where she won the Revisionary Award, Candlewick Picture Book Prize, T.A. Barron Prize for Nature Writing, and was selected as a DEI...
Highlights Foundation Invests in 55 Storytellers to Support Their Work to Inspire Kids
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 3, 2025 Highlights Foundation Invests in 55 Storytellers to Support Their Work to Inspire Kids Honesdale, PA — The Highlights Foundation recently awarded 55 scholarships to aspiring and established children’s authors and illustrators. You...
With Scholarship Help, Varsha Seshan Expanded Her Verse Novel Horizons
Varsha Seshan is a children’s writer from India, who has been shortlisted for multiple awards. She was awarded a general scholarship in 2024 and chose to take Cordelia Jensen's online course Revising Your Novel in Verse. Varsha's Course Experience: It was a...
Scholarship Stories: Celebrating With Lindsay Cordero
Social Media Manager Cat Galeano celebrated our Scholarship Program on Instagram Live with recipient author/illustrator Lindsay Cordero. Watch the conversation or read the full transcript below. (You can see closed captions by hovering over the bottom of the video and...
#HFGather: 2025 Scholarship Celebration and Information Session
#HFGather: 2025 Scholarship Celebration and Information Session Highlights Foundation Program Director Alison Green Myers celebrated our 2025 scholarship program at our first HFGather of the year. She answered questions and we heard from previous scholarship awardees...
4 Amplify Black Stories Alums Celebrate The Antiracist Kitchen
On September 12, 2023, a middle grade book called The Antiracist Kitchen was published. The book was edited by Nadia L. Hohn, who wondered "Can a cookbook be antiracist?" and "Can an anthology be filled with stories AND recipes?" Deciding that it could, she began...
The Highlights Foundation Will Award 50+ Scholarships In 2025; Introduce 9 New Special Scholarships
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 13, 2025 The Highlights Foundation to Award 50+ Scholarships in 2025; Introduce 9 New Special Scholarships Aspiring and published storytellers are encouraged to apply; deadline is February 10 Honesdale, PA – Today, the Highlights...
Hi/Lo Fiction: A Scholarship Helps Writer Create Books For Struggling and Reluctant Readers
Jennifer Liss specializes in writing fiction for struggling and reluctant readers. She says: "In 2022, I was the honored recipient of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Scholarship, which I used to attend Middle Grade Writers: A Generative Retreat Experience. While I was on...
Multiple Scholarships: Investing In This Writer’s Career
Sara Holly Ackerman is a school librarian and children's book author who has received several scholarships from the Highlights Foundation. Prior to receiving a PJ Library Scholarship in 2023 and a Richard H. Bell Scholarship in 2024, she was a 2022 and 2023 PJ Library...
From A Career Change, to Nearly 100 Published Books: Paying It Forward with Christine Taylor-Butler
Nearly 25 years ago, Christine Taylor-Butler attended her first Highlights Foundation workshop. Today, she’s published nearly 100 books and supports a special scholarship in her and husband Ken’s name at the Highlights Foundation. This is her story. In early 2000, I...
