Musical artist ELIZABETH SWADOS is the author of twelve children's books, four novels, two collections of poetry, a collection of short non-fiction, and two books on creating musical theater for young people. She has composed, written, and directed theater for over thirty years and is perhaps best known for her Broadway and international hit Runaways . Her works include the Obie Award winning Trilogy at La Mama and Alice at the Palace with Meryl Streep at the New York Shakespeare Festival. Swados has had over thirty works performed in the off and off-off Broadway theater scene as well as in festivals and tours around the work. She also does workshops with at risk teenagers and people who suffer from cranial facial disorders. She is a full time teacher in the drama department at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and also teaches at The New School's Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts as a visiting artist. Her articles have been published in the New York Times , New York Times Magazine , and Vogue . Her other awards include five Tony nominations, three Obie Awards, a Guggenheim Fellowship, Ford Fellowship, Helen Hayes Award, Lila Acheson Wallace award, a Special International PEN Citation.

Her most recent awards include Best Book for Young Adults from New York Public Library and the Gaudium Award for enhancing the lives of others through art.