Hello

I'm Roxanne Chester, a children's book author, attorney, and painter based in California.

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A native Californian who also lived in Chicago, I'm a graduate of Berkeley Law with a background in community advocacy. While working in that field, I saw that behind every issue was a person's story. I wanted to tell those stories, and to create new ones, for young readers, so I started taking creative writing classes at the Art Institute of Chicago and began writing for children.

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My picture book, This Is My Bag: A Story of the Unhoused, illustrated by Abraham Matias, gives young readers a gentle conversation starter about people experiencing homelessness in our communities. A picture book manuscript of mine won the 2026 SCBWI Work-in-Progress (WIP) Award. I was also honored to be a We Need Diverse Books mentee, mentored by Derrick Barnes. I'm a member of SCBWI and the Authors Guild, and an alumna of the NY Writers Coalition's Black Writers Program.

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Outside of writing, I paint in acrylic and occasional watercolor, layering brushwork and vivid color to explore nature, memory, and heritage. My work was recently shown at the Richmond Art Center.