Kurtz, Jane: - Jane Kurtz is an award-winning children's book author, speaker, educator, and she is on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in Children's and YA Literature. She is a co-founder of the board of Ethiopia Reads, an organization that brings books and literacy to the children in Ethiopia, where Jane grew up. She also heads the creative team of Ready Set Go Books, a project of Open Hearts Big Dreams to create fun, colorful, local language books for people in Ethiopia. Jane currently lives in Portland, Oregon.