Ashley Walker is an author, editor, and amateur musician whose current young adult biography, Music Mavens: 15 Women of Note in the Industry, will resonate with middle and high school music, performing arts, English, and creative writing students.

Music Mavens is a young adult biography collection that transports readers around the world—to a jazz performance in Genoa, an instrument lab in London, a Tokyo taiko dojo, a New York City beatbox battle, a film-scoring session aboard the starship Enterprise, and beyond. It tells the life stories of 15 contemporary artists whose work spans musical genres and industry roles, including composing and songwriting, performing and conducting, audio engineering, producing, and even rock photography.

Whether solo or in harmony with her Music Mavens co-author Maureen Charles, Ashley is available to lead in-person or virtual workshops for students or youth groups in grades 6-9. Possible topics include:

• Telling True Stories—writing creative nonfiction

• The Sound of Your Story—using music to elevate language in fiction and nonfiction

• Making Something Together—collaborating with a writing partner

• Music Industry Careers—exploring paths to and through the music business

Ashley is passionate about the power of a well-crafted story to broaden minds and open hearts. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she mentors young writers for the Society of Young Inklings and volunteers for Girls Scouts of America. Ashley has an educational background in engineering and artificial intelligence, and she recently graduated from the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she was a three time award winner. Her upcoming young adult narrative nonfiction book about artificial intelligence is due out from Candlewick/MITeen Press in 2026.

Music Mavens is aligned with Common Core State Anchor Standards in Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening and Common Career Technical Core Standards in the Arts.

Learn more about Ashley. Learn more about Music Mavens.