Festival Info

Pre-Recorded Inspired by a True Story

What do a rock climber, an astrophysicist, and an actor have in common? They ‘re all picture book authors, too! Hear from three very different accomplished professionals: Kamen Edwards (THE ONE AND ONLY DYLAN ST. CLARE), Ray Jayawardhana (CHILD OF THE UNIVERSE), and Ashima Shiraishi (HOW TO SOLVE A PROBLEM) about how they pulled from their personal experiences to create books for children that entertain, inform, and inspire.

WHEN: 01:00PM EST on Friday, 1 May 2020

Panelists:

KAMEN EDWARDS is an actor, writer, producer, and children’s book author. Kamen’s acting credits include guest star slots on Modern Family, Young & Hungry, and Big Time Rush, as well as guest appearances in sketches for Conan O’Brien, Attack of the Show, and X-Play. His solo digital presence has accumulated 500,000+ views with a large and fast-growing audience of women and gay men. As a writer for TV and film, Kamen has created several sitcom pilots with his unique voice, humor, and point of view on LGBTQ+ issues. Kamen’s Instagram feed, with 20K followers, is @kamenedwards.


Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell, Ray Jayawardhana investigates the origins and diversity of planetary systems and the prospects for life in the universe, using many of the world’s largest telescopes. He is a prolific researcher with more than 125 scientific papers to his credit, whose discoveries have garnered widespread attention. Child of the Universe is Ray’s picture-book debut. Find out more at drrayjay.net or on Twitter at @DrRayJay.


Ashima Shiraishi started climbing at the age of six, and today she is one of the best climbers in the world. She is the first and only female climber ever to ascend a V15 bouldering problem, earning praise from Outside magazine as “a young crusher” and the New York Times as a “bouldering phenom.” This is her first picture book.