Amanda.West Lewis author page

Amanda.West Lewis biography

Amanda West Lewis is a writer for young readers whose work ranges from craft books to historical novels. She has combined writing with careers as a theatre director, calligrapher, book artist and instructor, and she has worked in the arts and in arts education. She has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and founded the Ottawa Children’s Theatre.

Her historical novel September 17: The Sinking of the City of Benares tells the story of children aboard the City of Benares during the Second World War. The book was a 2014 CBC Bookie Awards finalist in the Best Canadian Young Adult category, was on the 2014 IODE Violet Downey Book Award shortlist, was a 2015 Silver Birch Fiction Award nominee and was on the 2014/2015 Red Cedar Fiction Award shortlist.

These Are Not the Words was published by Groundwood Books on 1 April 2022 and is for readers aged 9 to 12. The novel is about Missy, a girl growing up in New York City in the 1960s, and is based on events and people from Amanda West Lewis’s own childhood.

Focus. Click. Wind. was published on 1 August 2023 and follows seventeen-year-old aspiring photojournalist Billie Taylor during the Vietnam War era. A Planet Is a Poem, written by Amanda West Lewis and illustrated by Oliver Averill, was published on 7 May 2024 as a 40-page book for readers aged 8 to 12.