Uma Krishnaswami is the author of more than twenty books for young readers, from picture books (Monsoon, The Happiest Tree, The Girl of the Wish Garden, Bright Sky, Starry City and Out of the Way! Out of the Way!), through novels for young readers (The Grand Plan to Fix Everything and Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh). Twenty years after its first publication, her traditional story collection, The Broken Tusk: Stories of the Hindu God Ganesha, continues to be a definitive introduction to Hindu mythology for young readers. Uma has also written short stories and poems for magazines and anthologies.

Uma’s books have been published in eleven languages and picked for CCBC Choices, Parents’ Choice, the Junior Library Guild, USBBY’s Outstanding International Books, the South Asia Book Award Honor, Bank Street Best Books of the Year, Children’s Choice nominations in the US and Canada, the Scholastic Asian Book Award (Singapore), the Crossword Award (India) and others.

Born in New Delhi, India, Uma teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier, Vermont, in the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Many of her students have gone on to establish successful writing careers.

Uma lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. In her spare time, she loves to hike and travel. She knits while revising.