Uma Menon is an 18-year-old student and author from Winter Park, Florida who currently attends Princeton University.

Author

  • Children’s Books: My Mother’s Tongues (Candlewick, 2023) and Our Mothers’ Names (Candlewick, 2024)
  • Poetry Book: Hands for Language, published by Mawenzi House in 2020 and shortlisted by the 2019 Erbacce-Prize
  • Three-Time Pushcart Prize Nominee in Poetry
  • 2020-2021 National YoungArts Winner in Writing
  • Featured in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, The Progressive, Orlando Sentinel, The Rumpus, and over three dozen other print and online publications

Advocate

  • Congressional Guest to the 2019 State of the Union
  • 2020 US Senate Youth Program Florida Delegate
  • 100 Most Influential Women of Malayali Origin
  • 2020-2021 Encore Public Voices Fellow
  • 2019-2020 International Human Rights Art Festival Youth Fellow
  • Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) Action Fellow

Student

  • International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Recipient
  • Florida League of IB Schools (FLIBS) Merit Scholar
  • Burger King Scholar
  • National Speech & Debate Academic All-American Award