Nikki Grimes does not consider herself a bonified storyteller, but, as she told an audience recently at the Library of Congress, she is happy to own the title Poet. Born and raised in New York City, Nikki began composing verse at the age of six and has been writing ever since. A prolific artist, she is the author of many award-winning books for children and young adults including the novel Jazmin's Notebook, (Dial) a Coretta Scott King Award Honor Book and Bank Street College Book of the Year, the popular poetry collection Meet Danitra Brown, (Lothrop) an ALA Notable and Coretta Scott King Honor Book, Hopscotch Love (Lothrop); Aneesa Lee & The Weaver's Gift, an American Bookseller Pick of the List, (Lothrop); From A Child's Heart (just Us Books), a book of prayers; A Dime A Dozen, My Man Blue (Dial); Come Sunday (Eerdmans) an ALA Notable; At Break of Day (Eerdmans); and Is it Far to Zanzibar? ( HarperCollins). Other works include Stepping Out With Grandma Mac and Shoe Magic (Orchard), A Pocketful of Poems (Clarion), Wild, Wild Hair (Scholastic), Portrait of Mary (Harcourt Brace), a work of adult fiction on the life of Jesus' mother, and Malcolm X: A Force For Change (Fawcett), a YA biography which was an NAACP Image Award Finalist for 1993. In addition to her work for children, Ms. Grimes has written articles for such magazines as Essence, Today's Christian Woman, and Book Links. An accomplished and widely anthologized poet of both childrews and adult verse., Grimes has conducted poetry readings and lectures at international schools in Russia, China, Sweden and Tanzania, while shortterm mission projects have taken her to such trouble-spots as Haiti. Crossing borders artistically as well as geographically, Nikki once sang on the stage of the Stockholm Philharmonic in Sweden, (where magazines refer to her as a singer who also writes!) sang and danced her way down the east coast of China, and has published and exhibited her photography both here and abroad. During the 1970's, Nikki coproduced and hosted The Kid's Show on WBAI FM in New York. Later, during a six-year-stint in Sweden, she hosted their radio program for immigrants, Gränslöst, and another for Swedish Educational Radio A forthcoming poetry title is include Under the Christmas Tree (HarperCollins). You can visit Nikki's Web site at www.nikkigrimes.com.

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