Voices in Children’s Literature 2008

Day #2 Saturday, November 8, 2008

Imagine a day where you can listen to authors as they describe their individual processes – the decisions they make in the creation of children’s literature. Add to that, an opportunity to experience Author’s Reader Theater where four distinguished children’s authors bring their characters to life through voice and expression.

Whether you are a parent, teacher, literacy coach, librarian, administrator, writer, or student, you will be inspired by the talented faculty who will speak at this year’s Voices in Children’s Literature Conference.

Join us for a remarkable day of entertainment, insights, inspiration and dialogue. Then, return to the children in your lives with new understandings that will enhance their appreciation of what they read and write.

ONLY PRE-REGISTRATION FOR WORDWORKS. NO ON-SITE REGISTRATION AVAILABLE.

Click here to download the registration form for Saturday only (Voices in Children’s Literature).

Click here to download the registration form for both days (Wordworks and Voices in Children’s Literature).

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Schedule for Voices in Children’s Literature 2008

8:30-9:00am

Opening Remarks

9:00-11:00am

Authors Readers Theater, Cole Auditorium
Avi, Pam Munoz Ryan, Richard Peck, and Sarah Weeks
Readers Theatre takes many forms, but these authors follow the tradition of readers/actors standing on stage, reading from prepared scripts. There are no costumes or props, merely their voices to transport the audience ‘into’ the text.

These authors have revamped their own writing (selections from their novels or picture books) into theatrical scenes; they rehearse at length; they perform with scripts in hand. Each scene runs about ten minutes, and two scenes from each author are included. All four authors appear in every scene.

11:15-1:00

Authors Readers Theater will sign books

11:45-1:15

Lunch
Lunch is on your own. You may enjoy dining at one of the nearby restaurants, or you can pack a lunch and eat on campus.

1:15

Keynote Presentation by Kathi Appelt – Cole Auditorium
Underneath the Writing of the Underneath
In the telling of any story, the author does well to tap into his or her own life experiences and interweave those with the fictional world that is made up on the page. But how far apart are those two world – the real and the super-real? And what does risk have to do with it all? Join the author as she describes the journey she took in the writing of this mystical tale.

2:15-3:00

Two Breakout Sessions

April Pulley Sayre – Cole Auditorium
Wild Words: Voice and Fluency in Creative Nonfiction
Discover the rain forest inspiration and native plant garden goofiness behind April Pulley Sayre’s many books. Explore the essence of voice, and its role in transforming simple nonfiction ideas into layered, lyrical prose. Find out why fish names are just plain funny and what Threespine Stickleback should mean to you.

Susan Spain-Jim Cherry Learning Resource Center Auditorium
Heartbreaking to Heartfelt: Turning Tragedy into Compelling, Uplifting Fiction
You see or hear something on the news, or by word-of-mouth, and you can’t get it out of your mind. You know the story’s got “legs.” But how do you turn pain into promise? In this breakout session, Susan takes you through the journey that transformed a personal family tragedy into her acclaimed historical novel, THE DEEP CUT.

3:15-4:00

Two Breakout Sessions

Susan Spain-Jim Cherry Learning Resource Center Auditorium
Walking the Uphills, Running the Downhills: Finding the Pace that Works
Most writers know the importance of conflict, of keeping the reader wanting more, page after page, to the very end of a story. But how do you structure a novel to ensure that the reader is engaged throughout, but not left breathless? As a marathon runner as well as a writer, Susan understands the importance of pacing. In this breakout session, she will share practical advice to ensure that your readers are neither wheezing, nor quitting, before the end of the marathon.

Lola M. Schaefer – Cole Auditorium
We’ve All Heard “Write What You Know.” But Suppose An Author Doesn’t Know and Still Wants To Write?
Even when writing what Lola knows well, she soon finds herself researching. Maybe it’s learning more about a location, an historical period, four-year-old interests, or the intricacies of pollination. Follow her process through several levels of inquiry and investigation as she consults with experts, travels to her settings, or studies her topic firsthand. Learn how the smallest discoveries add additional layers of interest and authenticity to her fiction, as well as nonfiction.

4:15-4:45

Author Panel-Cole Auditorium
Join Kathi, Susan, Lola, and April for a question and answer session to learn more about the decisions behind their work.

Books! Books! Books!
Throughout the day, The Reading Tree from Alpharetta and Storyville Children’s Books from Duluth will be present offering hundreds of books. Authors will sign books all day and at the end of the conference.

5:00

Doors Close

Registration Information

There will be NO on-site registration for this conference. You must pre-register by completing the following registration form and mailing your check made out to Voices in Children’s Literature to the address on the registration form. As soon as your registration is received, you will receive an email confirmation. Thank you.

Students in grades 4-12 are welcome to attend Voices in Children’s Literature. If a student registration is mailed in with an adult registration, the student cost is only $50 for the day.

Registration fee is $135.00 (Early registration before September 5 is $105.00)

Registration for both conferences is $245.00

Early registration for both conferences is $190.00

To register for Wordworks (Friday only) Click here to download this form.

To register for Voices in Childrens’s Literature (Saturday only) Click here to download this form.

To register for both Wordworks and Voices in Children’s Literature (Friday and Saturday) Click here to download this form.