About me
Wiley Barnes, Chickasaw, has spent twenty-four years forging a career in publishing, writing, printing, photography, and graphic design, with the last seventeen years at the Chickasaw Nation. During that time, he has had the pleasure of working on a number of projects that promote Chickasaw culture and celebrate Chickasaw people. C is for Chickasaw, his first children’s book, received a Gold Benjamin Franklin Award for Best New Voice: Children’s/Young Adult, a Bronze Moonbeam for Multicultural Nonfiction Picture Book, and was an Oklahoma Book Award Finalist. In 2017, C is for Chickasaw was adapted into an app with games and activities for kids. The C is for Chickasaw paperback and coloring book was released in 2018. His second children’s book, Funny Fani’ was released in 2021 and won an Oklahoma Book Award. He is the editor of the Journal of Chickasaw History and Culture and is on the board of directors for the Chickasaw Historical Society serving as vice-chair, the Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book board of directors serving as secretary, and the Independent Book Publishers Association Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee serving as chair. Barnes lives in Ada, Oklahoma with his wife and two children.
