Uma Krishnaswami is an Indian author of picture books and novels for children and is a writing teacher. She is "recognized as a major voice in the expanding of international and multicultural young adult fiction and children's literature."^[1]

Krishnaswami was born in 1956 in New Delhi, India. She received a degree in political science, and a master's degree in social work from the University of Delhi. ^[2] In 1979, she moved to the United States where she received an additional graduate degree from the University of Maryland, College Park.^{[3] [4]} She then moved to Aztec, New Mexico where she lived for many years.^[5] She now lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and she is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada and an Overseas Citizen of India. ^[6]

Her first published story appeared in Children's World, a magazine published in India, when she was thirteen.^[7] Her stories and poems have been published in Cricket, Highlights and Cicada.^[1] Her award-winning books, which include middle grade novels, picture books, early readers, and non-fiction are published in English, Hindi, Tamil and twelve other languages.^[8][9]

In 2011 Krishnaswami appeared at the National Book Festival which is organized by the Library of Congress. ^[10]

Chachaji's Cup, one of Krishnaswami's picture books, was adapted into a musical and performed in several theaters in both New York City and California.^{[11] [12] [13]}

Krishnaswami has taught writing to adults and children for years, and for over ten years she was the writer in residence at the Aztec Ruins National Monument.^[14][15] She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and CANSCAIP.^[16] She also taught writing classes online through Writers on the Net.^[17] She currently teaches in the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts.^[18]

• 1997 Scientific American Young Readers Award for The Broken Tusk: Stories of the Hindu God Ganesha^[19]
• 2005 Notable Book For a Global Society (International Literacy Association) for Naming Maya^[20]
• 2013 Crossword Book Award (Children's Literature) for Book Uncle and Me^[21]
• 2011 Scholastic Asian Book Award for Book Uncle and Me^[22]
• 2017-2018 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature for Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh^[23]
• 2017 USBBY Outstanding International Books List for Book Uncle and Me^[24]
• 2022 Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Best Books of the Year List for Threads of Peace: How Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Changed the World^[25][26]
• 2022 Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Best Books of the Year List for Two at the Top: A Shared Dream of Everest^[27][28]

• List of Indian writers