Erik Talkin

Erik Talkin is the author of Lulu and the Hunger Monster ™ (Food Justice Books for Kids), a children’s picture book inspired by nearly two decades of work addressing hunger and food insecurity in the United States. He serves as CEO of the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, where he has led nationally recognized, award-winning children’s nutrition and food literacy programs, including initiatives such as Healthy School Pantry and Kid’s Farmers Market.

Talkin previously served on the board of the California Association of Food Banks and on the National Advisory Council of Feeding America, and he has written about food security in his book Hunger into Health. A former playwright, screenwriter, and filmmaker based in London, he has created short films and fantasy works for teens, and later earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Lulu and the Hunger Monster ™ is the first title in his Food Justice Books for Kids series and received an International Literacy Association Social Justice Book Award in 2021.