Cynthia Baseman

Cynthia Baseman writes stories that sit at the intersections of healing, humor, and humanity—in her memoir of a mother’s journey through grief, a children’s picture book, and her YA novel celebrating neurodivergent first love, she’s drawn to the moments that make us feel most alive. Again and again, her work returns to a central question: where do we find truth?

That question has also led her into library advocacy. As a library board member at University of Southern California, she champions libraries as rare public spaces where information is curated with care, context, and accountability. To her, libraries are both sanctuary and engine: places where questions are welcomed, and where communities discover not only books, but tools, resources, and one another.

An Emmy-nominated producer and a Nicholl Fellowship Finalist for screenwriting, Cynthia lives in Los Angeles with her husband, their spirited rescue dog, and four endlessly chatty cockatiels. Between her two grown sons and her vocal pets, her household is much like a good library: never entirely quiet and always full of stories.