Bio:

Betsy James is the author-illustrator of seventeen books for adults and children, as well as a professional illustrator and fine artist. Her latest novel, Roadsouls, was a finalist for the 2017 World Fantasy Award. As writer, artist and teacher she is interested in how quirky cross-pollination between science fiction/fantasy, the STEM fields, and the arts can help all disciplines think outside the box.

She has a BA in Creative Writing from Mount Holyoke College and the University of Utah, and an MA in Literacy from the University of New Mexico. Her writing has received many national honors; her illustrations have been exhibited in the National Museum of Women in the Arts and in permanent exhibits for the Museum of New Mexico. Her paintings currently show at the Matteucci Gallery in Santa Fe. She is an avid desert hiker.

Betsy’s courses use a workshop approach that includes reading and writing short fiction; class discussion; offbeat “thought experiments”; and peer feedback. She has facilitated writing workshops in English and Spanish, for all ages and skill levels, in schools and communities both urban and Indigenous, in the United States and Mexico

Research Interest:

What helps writers write; the uses of speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, magic realism) in critical thinking and personal exploration; the use of informal play in writing and the arts; metaphor in human thinking and communication.