Crescent Dragonwagon (née Ellen Zolotow, November 25, 1952, New York City) is a multigenre writer. She has written fifty books, including two novels, seven cookbooks and culinary memoirs, more than twenty children's books, a biography, and a collection of poetry. In addition, she has written for magazines including The New York Times Book Review, Lear's, Cosmopolitan, McCall's, and The Horn Book. Dragonwagon is the daughter of the writers Charlotte and Maurice Zolotow and sister of professional poker player Steve Zolotow. Although many of her cookbooks include non-vegetarian recipes, she has been a vegetarian since the age of 22. Dragonwagon and her late husband, Ned Shank, owned Dairy Hollow House, a country inn and restaurant in the Ozark Mountain community of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Dragonwagon later co-founded the non-profit Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow, and was active in the cultural and literary life of Arkansas throughout the 31 years she lived in the state full-time.

Awards and nominations

Dragonwagon's tenth children's book, Half a Moon and One Whole Star, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney and published in 1986, was the winner of a Coretta Scott King Award, as well as a Reading Rainbow Selection. In 1991, she won Arkansas' Porter Prize.

Books

Biography

Cookbooks

Children's books

Novels