Joan Bouza Koster is an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction works in the fields of ethnography, education, anti-racism, and the arts. She holds a doctorate from Binghamton University and has published two textbooks on teaching the arts to young children: Growing Artists and Bringing Art into the Elementary Classroom.  Her dissertation on Addressing Racism through Children’s Literature was named the most distinguished dissertation in 2005.

Her short stories have appeared in several anthologies, and have received awards from Women on Writing, Stone Thread Publishing, Tryst Literary Magazine, and Winning Writers. Her first historical fiction novel longlisted for the Mslexia Award. Under the pen name, Zara West, she has published the award-winning romantic thriller series The Skin Quartet. She is currently in the process of writing a historical fiction series about nineteenth-century women who never should have been forgotten.

Joan Bouza Koster blogs at JoanKoster.com, WomenWordsWisdom.com, AmericanCivilWarVoice.org, and ZaraWest.me and has taught numerous online writing courses. Find her current teaching schedule on her website.