Gloria Whelan is an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer known primarily for children's and young adult fiction. She won the prestigious National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2000 for her novel Homeless Bird. Additionally, she won the 2013 Tuscany Prize for Catholic Fiction for her short story What World Is This?, which also became the title for the independent publisher's 2013 collection of short stories.

Whelan's bibliography includes numerous historical fiction novels, such as a trilogy set on Mackinac Island and a quartet series set in communist Russia. Her short stories have been featured in The Ontario Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Gettysburg Review, and other literary quarterlies. Her collection titled Playing with Shadows was published by the Illinois Press. These stories have also been included in several anthologies and in Prize Stories: the O. Henry Awards.

According to Liz Rosenberg of the Chicago Tribune, Whelan is "an accomplished, graceful, and intelligent writer."