Nikki Grimes author page

Nikki Grimes biography

Nikki Grimes is an American author and poet known for her contributions to children’s and young adult literature. She began writing at the age of six and gave her first public poetry reading at thirteen. Grimes studied at Rutgers University and has since published numerous books, including poetry collections, novels, and picture books.

Her work often features African American characters and explores themes of identity, resilience, and family. Grimes is the author of the Coretta Scott King Award-winning novel Bronx Masquerade, which was published by Dial Books in 2002. The book uses a hybrid of prose and poetry to depict the lives of high school students finding their voices through open mic sessions. She has also received several Coretta Scott King Honors, including for Jazmin’s Notebook and Talkin’ About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman.

Grimes has written numerous acclaimed picture books, such as Bedtime for Sweet Creatures, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon, and The Watcher, which is based on Psalm 121 and illustrated by Bryan Collier. In addition to her fiction and poetry, she has edited anthologies, including Ordinary Hazards: A Memoir, a 2019 title in verse that recounts her childhood and early adulthood. The book received the 2020 Michael L. Printz Honor and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Award for Nonfiction.

In 2006, Grimes received the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. She was the recipient of the 2017 Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, now known as the Children’s Literature Legacy Award, from the American Library Association, recognizing her substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.

Her book Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance, published in 2021, introduces young readers to lesser-known female poets of the Harlem Renaissance, pairing their work with her own original responses. The title was named a Kirkus Best Book of the Year and was selected as a School Library Journal Best Book.