About Meghan Wilson Duff

Meghan Wilson Duff has been busy writing picture books. Their first book How Are You, Verity? is illustrated by Taylor Barron and was released by Magination Press in August 2023. In Fall 2026, Alex & The Squid, illustrated by Nathalie Dieterlé, will be released by Barefoot Books.

When they were young, they loved to spend time investigating tide pools and wanted to be a marine biologist. Somewhere along the way they got distracted by trying to figure out other people, and they ended up studying anthropology in college and clinical psychology in graduate school.

They worked as a child and family therapist and adolescent addictions treatment provider and then transitioned to full time teaching. Currently, they are faculty in the Psychology & Community Studies program at University of Maine at Machias. They teach mental health and substance use services courses. 

Meghan enjoys collaborating with K-12 teachers and school staff, as well as other community partners. They provide professional development workshops on supporting autistic students and on neurodiversity. They also enjoy visiting classrooms and working with younger students.

They are a member of the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance (MWPA), and part of the the Maine Writing Project (MWP) and the National Writing Project's Writers Council.

At any given time, they are likely in the middle of multiple books and rotating between reading a science fiction novel, a middle grade novel, picture books, and nonfiction books as well. Reading has long been their favorite activity. Learning to enjoy writing was not easy and took much longer than you might imagine. Meghan still enjoys investigating tide pools and looking under rocks. 

A note on the use of generative AI for writing or art and as social chatbots: Meghan opposes the use of commercial genAI as a writer, a teacher, an academic, a parent, and a citizen. It is not in service of our collective best interests or the planet's wellbeing. Writing and making art is a process. It takes time, effort, and creativity. Embraces those things. In terms of chatbots, find a person to talk to.