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Home » Courage to Write Grant Finalists » Writer of Note » John McLaughlin

John McLaughlin

July 20, 2022

Sancocho Surprise (bilingual children’s book series) Seattle, WA

A series of bilingual children’s books which reimagine classic European folk tales in fresh contemporary contexts in Latin America, addressing the social realities and emotional needs of today’s children, especially those who have traditionally been left out of such stories.

Born in Texas, raised in Virginia, my roots of family, faith, and education are strong, if fairly “traditional.” As an adult, I’ve been called to live and work the past 25 years in both Latin America and the Pacific Northwest, and with my wife (who is Colombian), raise two children in a bilingual and bicultural family. In my professional life, I’ve worked as a jail chaplain, a case manager for homeless adults, a nonprofit founding director, and a writer and teacher of stories and books for children and adults. I’ve tried to teach my children and students, primarily through example, to discover their deepest values and gifts, and put them at the service of others, especially the poorest among us.

John is the author of the novel Run in the Fam’ly (Univ of Tennessee Press) and the bilingual children’s book The Good Stranger’s Sancocho Surprise / El sancocho sorpresa del buen desconocido (Deletrea).   His books and journalism have won various awards, including from the Texas Institute of Letters, and the Catholic Media Association. He is founding director of Education Across Borders, a nonprofit forming leaders and transforming marginalized communities in the Dominican Republic.

Investing in Writers & the Literary Arts

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