Press Kit – SHANA YOUNGDAHL

Really Short Bio: Shana Youngdahl is a poet, professor, and fiction writer. Her novel A Catalog of Burnt Objects (Dial/PenguinTeen 2025) was inspired by the catastrophic wildfire that decimated her hometown of Paradise, CA. Her debut novel As Many Nows As I Can Get (Dial/Penguin Teen) was a Kirkus Best Book of 2019, a 2020 RISE title from the American Library Association, and a New York Public Library top-ten book for teens. Shana loves helping people embrace the stories they need to tell and currently teaches in Lindenwood University’s MFA program in Writing. Shana presently lives in the Saint Louis metro area. Connect with her online at www.shanayoungdahl.com, Twitter @shanayoungdahl or Instagram @shanayoungdahl

Short Bio: Shana Youngdahl is a poet, professor, and fiction writer. Shana loves helping people embrace the stories they need to tell. Educated at Mills College, The University of Minnesota, and the University of Maine Shana is an Associate Professor in the MFA in Writing Program at Lindenwood University. Her debut novel As Many Nows As I Can Get, was a Kirkus Best Book of 2019, a 2020 RISE title from the American Library Association, and a New York Public Library top-ten book of 2019 (Dial/Penguin Teen). Her second novel A Catalog of Burnt Objects (Dial/PenguinTeen 2025) has received starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus and won a A-List Editors Choice Award from Saint Louis Magazine. As a poet she has published several poetry chapbooks and two volumes of poems, most recently A Cage To Welcome (2023, SFASUPress). Connect with her online at www.shanayoungdahl.com, Twitter @shanayoungdahl or Instagram @shanayoungdahl

Long Bio: Shana Youngdahl is a poet, professor, and fiction writer originally from Paradise, California. Shana loves helping young people embrace the stories they need to tell. Her first writing workshop was at the California State Summer School for the Arts in high school (CSSSA). At CSSSA Shana first had the opportunity to work with other serious young artists. This experience galvanized her love of language and made her a stalwart supporter of positive creative communities.

Shana went on to earn a degree in English from Mills College and an MFA in poetry from The University of Minnesota. She’s held driver’s licenses in six states and currently teaches writing in Lindenwood University’s MFA in Writing program where she is an Associate Professor. Previously, Shana taught at the University of Maine-Farmington, where she also directed the Longfellow Young Writers Workshop, and was involved actively in the writing community in Maine, including serving on the board of the Maine Writers and Publishers’ Alliance.

Shana always seeks to support creative communities. Currently she is on the board of the Main Street Books Literacy Foundation, a new nonprofit dedicated to getting hands into the books of under-resourced children in Saint Charles County. Shana is a member of SCBWI-KS-MO, and other local writing organizations. Her most recent novel A Catalog of Burnt Objects is inspired by destruction of her hometown of Paradise, CA in the 2018 Camp Fire. It was highlighted by YALSA as a quick pick for reluctant readers, won an A-List Editor’s Choice Award from Saint Louis Magazine, and recieved starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist. Her debut novel, As Many Nows As I Can Get, (Dial/Penguin Teen) was a Kirkus best book of 2019, a New York Public Library top-ten book of the year, and an Amelia Bloomer 2020 RISE title from the American Library Association. Shana has received fellowships from the American Antiquarian Society and the Iowa Arts Council. Connect with her online at www.shanayoungdahl.com, instragram or bsky: @shanayoungdahl

Media

Author Essays

Publisher’s Weekly “Forged by Fire A YA Author Depicts The Horror of Wildfires.”

Caprice’s App Notebook: An Insider View of Sierra, CA at Fresh Fiction

Awards & List Highlights

YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers

Saint Louis Magazine A-List Editor’s Choice Award: Fiction

Interviews