Dawn Simon

By the time Dawn Simon was nine years old, she knew she'd grow up to be an author—or a teacher or a dolphin trainer. She ended up becoming two of the three. Dawn earned her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. In July 2024, she won VCFA’s Award for Excellence in Writing Middle Grade. Previously, at the University of San Diego, she earned her teaching certificate with an elementary education endorsement along with her BA in Diversified Liberal Arts. She worked nearly ten years as a special ed paraeducator, and her favorite part of the job was working with young readers. (She never became a dolphin trainer. She still loves dolphins, but she now thinks they’re much better off living in the ocean without human trainers.)

 

Dawn's favorite stories to read or write have humor and heart—and often a bit of magic! Two of her young adult manuscripts and one chapter book manuscript were finalists in the Pacific Northwest Writers’ Association Literary Contest, and one middle grade was a finalist in the San Francisco Writing Contest.

 

Dawn lives with her family—including two dogs and a small flock of chickens—on an island near Seattle. On extra-lucky days, she gets to see dolphins.

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A member of SCBWI and The Authors Guild, Dawn is represented by Jennie Kendrick at Red Fox Literary.