Authors have been visiting literary arts!
-Chiara Kovac
-Chiara Kovac
Starting this year, Moxie Road Productions (a company who helps authors publish) pays different Bay-Area authors to come to OSA’s Literary Arts department once a month to talk to the middle school students. Each author talks about their experience with writing, publishing, and editing. So far three authors have come, starting in November with Joanne Chan.
Chan is editor of the children’s magazine Illistoria. Chan had a background with Lucasfilm. She used to edit Star Wars Rebels children's books for the Disney Lucasfilm Press. However, she came to talk about her latest writing project, Illistoria, a children’s magazine full of interviews, stories, DIY projects, recipes, and comics. When Chan arrived, she talked about her experience with editing and publishing her magazines. Then she helped the students create an accordion book and passed out copies of Illistoria.
Chan is editor of the children’s magazine Illistoria. Chan had a background with Lucasfilm. She used to edit Star Wars Rebels children's books for the Disney Lucasfilm Press. However, she came to talk about her latest writing project, Illistoria, a children’s magazine full of interviews, stories, DIY projects, recipes, and comics. When Chan arrived, she talked about her experience with editing and publishing her magazines. Then she helped the students create an accordion book and passed out copies of Illistoria.
Janine Kovac, the December author, works for Litquake, a literary festival in October with over 100 events and over 600 authors. She also has her own company, Moxie Road Productions. She recently published a memoir, Spinning. Kovac talked about planning book readings and all the steps you need to go through, such as knowing where you want to read and how many people will be there. She also talked about publishing and self-publishing, the differences between the two, and what the writing process is like.
Alexandra Ballard, author of What I Lost, was the January author. She talked about her personal connection to her book, about eating disorders. Ballard struggled with an eating disorder when she was younger, and her book helped her talk about it and feel more comfortable about it. She talked about how she published and the work put into her book. Ballard also gave advice about publishing, saying that “when people comment you have to realize that it is about the book and not about you.”
The program has only been going on three months, and it is a success among Literary Arts students. Trevor Walton, a literary artist in the 6th grade, said that he enjoyed the authors, who could be writing books or checking email, who took a part of their day to talk to us. Heather Mackey, the author of Dreamwood, will be visiting the department in February.