Carolyn Marsden
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ABOUT ME
My friend Jane gave a party for me to celebrate the publication of STARFIELDS and MEXICO, JUPITER, SUBMARINE: HOW I BECAME A WRITER. Here I am in front of the party decorations.
Last year I completed an illustrated childhood memoir, creating 94 panels out of collage. Now I'm working on a more contemporary memoir-- the story of how I brought a crazy Dutch Land Rover from the Central American country of Belize, through Mexico with a Category 5 hurricane in pursuit, and into the US. Below are some of these panels.
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Carolyn Marsden grew up in Mexico City and Southern California. Although she wrote for adults for many years, she began to write for children after the birth of her daughters. She attended Vermont College and earned an MFA in Writing for Children. Her first book, The Gold-Threaded Dress, published by Candlewick, was a Booklist Top Ten Youth Novel of 2002. Her second novel, Silk Umbrellas, was a Texas Bluebonnet nominee and Booklist Top Ten Art Novel of 2003. Since then, Carolyn has published many more award-winning middle grade chapter books, almost all with multicultural themes. Her most recent books are Starfields (Candlewick 2011), set in Chiapas, Mexico and The White Zone (Carolrhoda 2012), set in contemporary Baghdad. Carolyn lives with her Thai husband and two half-Thai daughters.
COUNTRIES I HAVE VISITED AS AN ADULT:
Mexico Canada Australia New Zealand Thailand Laos Burma Mali Burkina Faso Senegal Costa Rica France Belize India Cuba Tahiti Taiwan (airport only) Japan (airport only) Korea (airport only) OTHER COUNTRIES I VISITED AS A CHILD: Italy The Bahamas England Germany Sweden Austria Spain Holland TEN THINGS I LOVE TO DO:
1. Play with my dogs and cats 2. Hang out with my family 3. Boogie board in the ocean 4. Paint and do collage 5. Dance 6. Read great books 7. Take long walks by the beach 8. Travel to exotic places 9. Go to Deer Park Monastery on Sundays 10. Write! 
Maleeka and Preeya years ago in their gold-threaded dresses
This is my older daughter, Maleeka, who is now in college. She's on the cover of MOON RUNNER.
My younger daughter, Preeya, holding the most important thing in life! Preeya is on the cover of THE GOLD-THREADED DRESS. Her drawing is on page 17 of the book.
This is my husband as a boy with his four brothers. Pal is the oldest.
EDUCATION:
*Pomona College, Claremont, CA *University of Colorado, Boulder (BA in Philosophy) *Prescott College, Tucson, AZ (Elementary Teaching Credential) *Vermont College, Montpelier (MFA in Writing for Children) 
This is Cici. We rescued her in Mexico.
My dog, Frankie. He's part Terrier and part Beagle. He loves to chase balls and rocks.
PLACES I'VE LIVED
Mexico City Newport Beach, CA Laguna Beach, CA Santa Barbara, CA Ojai, CA Del Mar, CA La Jolla, CA Claremont, CA Boulder, CO Berkeley, CA Santa Fe, NM Philadelphia, PA New York City Tucson, AZ Ensenada, Mexico Tecate, Mexico 
Phoebe
Jaguar
JOBS I'VE HAD: phone solicitor maid dance teacher check microfilmer poetry teacher care provider bartender landlady paralegal elementary and preschool teacher writer (Yay!) |
I love to paint. Here are some of my paintings.
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Here I am with my giant "Conductor of the Jazz Band."
These paintings started out as monotype images. I painted the face on a piece of plexiglass, then pressed paper over the image. Afterwards, I filled in with paint and water-based oil pastels.
I played around with paint, using the monotype process, and came up with this abstract.
My daughter, Preeya, did the monotype for this face and I finished the painting.
This one looks like a ceremonial mask to me.
This one is on canvas. Coincidentally, it looks like me when I was about ten years old.
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