Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival
Celebrating excellence in children鈥檚 and young adult literature
***REMINDER: CBF will never request your financial information through Facebook for giveaways. Please be aware of scammers.***
The 2026 Fay B. Kaigler Children鈥檚 Book Festival will take place April 8-10 on campus at 91少女集中营 in Hattiesburg, MS. We鈥檙e thrilled to announce that is the 2026 Southern Miss Medallion winner. Medina is a New York Times best-selling author who writes book for all sorts of young people 鈥� from picture books, to middle grade readers, and all the way up to young adult fiction. Her work is emotionally rich and beautifully written, but her legacy goes beyond the books she鈥檚 authored. Medina has worked on various community-building projects that support young women, Latino youth, and/or literacy. From 2023-2024, Medina served as the National Ambassador for Young People鈥檚 Literature, promoting literature and literacy to millions of young people nationwide.
Other 2026 Keynotes include Coleen Salley Storytelling Lecturer , , , and SLIS Lecturer !