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Linda Boyden
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Boyden with her book Powwow's Coming in 2020
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| Born | (1948-07-06) July 6, 1948 (age 76)
Attleboro, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| Years active | 1970–present |
| Spouse |
John P. Boyden (m. 1988) |
Linda Boyden (born July 6, 1948)[1] is an American poet and children's books writer.
Born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, Boyden is the daughter of Ray Simmons and Marie Dargis Simmons.[1] She claims French-Canadian and Cherokee descent and is a member of the United Lumbee Nation, a non-profit organization that self-identifies as a Native American tribe of Lumbee descendants.[2][3] As a child, she told stories to her dolls and to younger children. Enjoyment of reading led her to wish that she could be a writer.[4][5] In 1970, she graduated from Framingham State College with a bachelor of science in education degree. She received a master's of education degree from the University of Virginia in 1992.
Boyden began teaching first grade in a school in Baltimore in 1970 and taught "on and off" for 17 years.[4] Her career focus shifted to writing after she and her husband moved to Maui in 1997. The first acceptance of her work by a publisher came in 2000.[4]
Boyden received both the First Place Award and an Honorable Mention for her poems in the 5th Annual Pleasanton Poetry, Prose & Arts Festival. She was named Writer of the Year for Children's Books, 2002-2003 by the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers.[citation needed] Wordcraft Circle also named The Blue Roses its Book of the Year for Children's Literature.[6] The Blue Roses has received the 2003 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, in the pre-K-3 division, sponsored by The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College. The book is also included in the University of Wisconsin, Madison's Cooperative Children's Books Center Choices 2003 list.[citation needed] In 2000, Boyden won the Lee & Low Books first New Voices Award for her book The Blue Roses. The award was accompanied by a contract for publication and a $1,000 cash grant.[3]
In 1988, she married engineer John P. Boyden.[1]
