Fajardo, Anika

Anika Fajardo was born in Colombia and raised in Minnesota. Her debut middle-grade novel, What If a Fish (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2020), was awarded a 2021 Minnesota Book Award. She is also the author of Magical Realism for Non-Believers: A Memoir of Finding Family (University of Minnesota Press, 2019), which was named Best Book (Nonfiction) by City Pages and was a finalist for the 2020 Minnesota Book Award. Her next book for young readers, Meet Me Halfway (Simon & Schuster) is forthcoming in spring 2022. She also wrote Encanto: A Tale of Three Sisters, the middle-grade tie-in novel for Disney’s Encanto. Her writing for both children and adults has earned awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Jerome Foundation, and the Loft Literary Center. Her essays and stories have appeared in various publications and anthologies including Brief Encounters: A Collection of Contemporary Nonfiction (Norton, 2015) and Sky Blue Water: Great Stories for Young Readers (University of Minnesota Press, 2018). She teaches in the MFA in Creative Writing program at Augsburg University and is a 2021-22 mentor in the acclaimed Mentor Series at the Loft Literary Center, where she also serves on the Board of Directors.