The Power of a Visiting Author & Book Week 2-6 Feb

For our students, books can often feel like finished, perfect products. When we invite visiting authors like the recent visit of Jasmine Warga and the ongoing collaboration with Hoai Anh, students begin to see themselves as young authors. They learn about some of the sparks that inspired the books they have read. Students hear the stories of authors’ challenges in getting their books ready for publishing. They share their process and messy first drafts. They tell us how they ‘compose’ even when not writing by collecting ideas from the world and people around them. 

Our visiting authors also provided a connection between identity and the books they write. Jasmine Warga explained to us how her own cultural background inspired some of the characters and ideas in her book Other Words for Home. Hoai Anh talked to us about her family and how her children provided the sparks for her book ideas. 

During an author visit, students are not only listening to an author’s personal story, they are also practicing their own writing skills by trying out some of the ‘craft moves’ that they author has shared. Students explored writing dialogue, using figurative language and writing in verse. They also learned how they can turn anything into a story by finding the things they are curious about and thinking about the perspectives and stories that might transform that curiosity into a narrative story.

The goal of bringing authors like Jasmine Warga and Hoai Anh into our school is not necessarily to turn every student into a novelist, but to show them that their voice matters. When a child sees the person behind the book, they realize that the distance between their own stories and a published book is a journey of curiosity, practice and perseverance.