After a twenty-five-year trailblazing career as a dancer at American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland is now a New York Times bestselling author. And she’s set to be a keynote speaker at the 2026 NCTE Annual Convention!
Copeland’s latest book, Firebird Waltz—the first in a middle grade series about a girl who must balance her ballet aspirations with her magical destiny—comes out in late August. But her writing career actually started while she was still on stage, with her debut picturebook, Firebird (2014), in which Copeland encourages a young girl’s faith in herself and shows her exactly how, through hard work and dedication, she too can become Firebird.
“I’ve been so fortunate that, throughout my journey at ABT, I had started to already plant a lot of those seeds through writing and traveling, doing speaking engagements,” Copeland told Pointe magazine in 2025, just before her final performance with ABT.
Her other books for children are Bunheads (2020) and Bunheads, Act 2: The Dance of Courage (2025). Letters to Misty, in which she shares her advice to young dancers, was inspired by the letters she has received over the years and was published earlier this year. Her books for adults include Life in Motion (2022), Ballerina Body (2017), Black Ballerinas (2021), and The Wind at My Back (2022).
Copeland melds the worlds of dance and language, using her own career to show excelling in one art form can inform the practice of another. That’s something she wants to share with others.
“How do we use the arts as a tool for developing transferable life skills? How do we get content out there that reflects the dance community in a positive light? Because there’s so much that continues these [negative] tropes, and that doesn’t do us justice,” she told Pointe.
NCTE is thrilled that Copeland will share some of her hard-earned lessons with #NCTE26 Convention goers this fall in Philly.
Don’t miss your opportunity to see Misty Copeland on the NCTE stage in November. Early-bird pricing is still available, saving members more than $100 compared to regular rates.