Melissa de la Cruz
YALLFest Co-Chair
Bio
Melissa de la Cruz, a YALLFest board member and founder of YALLWest, is the #1 New York Times, #1 Publisher’s Weekly and #1 Indie Bound bestselling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for readers of all ages. Her books have also topped the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Los Angeles Times bestseller lists, and have been published in over 20 countries.
A former fashion and beauty editor, Melissa has written for The New York Times, MarieClaire,Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney’s, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews.
She grew up in Manila and moved to San Francisco with her family, where she graduated high school salutatorian from The Convent of the Sacred Heart. At Columbia University, she majored in art history and English.
Melissa de la Cruz lives in Los Angeles and Palm Springs with her husband and daughter.