James River Writers Conference

Appearances The Writing Life

September 27, 2017

It’s All About Bookish Virginia This Month

I'm back home after a month of coast-to-coast book travel which ended this past weekend in the best way possible. I hung out with English teachers at the Arizona Teachers of English conference and then drove up I-17 for my first-ever trip to The Grand Canyon. Now I get to do bookish things for a month right here in my home state of Virginia. (It's not the wide open west, but it's gorgeous here, especially in the fall.) Whether you're a young reader or adult, a reader or a writer, there's something for you. September 27, 2017, 6 pm, Chop Suey Books, Carytown, Richmond, VA. Join me and members of our local ACLU as we talk about censorship during Banned Books Week. Are you remembering to celebrate it? Now more than ever, we need to stand up for critical reading. October 6, 2017, Visiting Riverside High School in Leesburg, VA, where Lauren McBride and her fellow librarians and teachers are doing an incredible job of preparing the Rams for my visit. Looking forward to talking all things Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass and Burn Baby Burn. October 7, 2017, The YAVA Book and Author Party. Richmond Public Library, 101 East Franklin, offers you a chance to party for an afternoon with Virginia's YA authors. Food, prizes, and a lot of silliness. October 13 - 15, James River Writers Conference at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Have you registered? I'm doing a master class on writing characters on Friday (held at the…

Meg Medina

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Appearances Community work The Writing Life

October 13, 2014

Teen Read Week & More in #RVA

It's a great week to love books in Richmond, Virginia - especially middle grade and YA fiction. That's because it's not only the Library of Virginia's Literary Festival, but it's also the American Library Association's TeenRead Week. Wao! So much going on, so what can I say except, Tengo los patines puestos! (I've got my roller-skates on!) Here are a few highlights of where I'll be during the week: Meadowdale Library/Tomahawk Creek MS: I'll head down to Chesterfield County for a library book talk that is off-site on Wednesday, Oct 15, 7 PM. We'll talk The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind and Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass. Here's the info and where you register. Especially nice to see a partnership between the school and public libraries in a community. Teen 14: Locals already know that the main branch of the Richmond Public Library on Franklin Street is always figuring out ways to make reading come alive, especially for kids. So, they're going to play host once again for a teen author event. Join Virginia authors who have works for teens published in 2014. It's a ready-made night for librarians, teachers, and readers who want to meet and make friends with the truly kick-ass authors we have in the Commonwealth. PLUS, food, music, giveaways. If last year's event was any sign, it's going to be a really fun night. Details on their Facebook page or click on the jpg poster here. Hermitage High School Anti-bullying Book Event with Erin Jade Lange. You know her novel? It's…

Meg Medina

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Guests picture book, middle grade, YA

August 6, 2014

Five Questions for Kwame Alexander

Kwame Alexander's latest middle grade novel, The Crossover, stole my heart this summer. It's a novel-in-verse about two brothers - both basketball phenoms – and what threatens to pull them apart. At its heart, this powerful book is about family, young men, and the choices we make as we grow up – all all told in an irresistible, thumping style. Kwame will be speaking at the James River Writers Conference, which is one of my favorite conferences each year. Here Kwame joins me for a quick taste of what he'll bring to conference-goers. We talk dialogue, why poetry makes sense for boys, and the one thing he's learned about the writing life. 1. The dialogue in He Said, She Said is absolutely amazing in evoking character. How do you go about crafting dialogue? What advice would you give writers about the line between authentic sound and going too far? Yeah, I took some chances with the dialogue in HSSS. It took a minute to commit to the language and style of the characters, but once I did, it was ON! I work with young people, through my Book-in-a-Day program. So regularly, I am interacting with them over lunch, teaching poetry, making jokes, and eavesdropping on their conversations. I am very perceptive (and nosy), so I stole a lot of what I heard, felt, participated in. Also, I try to remember how my friends and I kicked it back in the day. I think that when you’re writing for young people, the trick is…

Meg Medina

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Appearances Community work

October 14, 2013

Virginia Book Lovers: This is the week for you!

This is the week to be proud to be a Virginian, especially if you're a book geek like me. The Literary Festival of Virginia is back. It has been gaining national attention over the years, thanks to the impressive list of bookish events you can find in this state. One event that I hope is on your radar is right here in Richmond. If you're a fan of books for young readers, we want to see you at Teen '13 at the Richmond Public Library on October 17, 6 - 8:30 PM. Food, music, authors, books, free stuff, all in one place. The fifteen Virginia authors who are coming offer a mind-blowing range of styles and topics. The books - all 2013 releases -- are about psychic powers, romance, religious zealots, racism, canaries in coal mines, circus freaks, the KKK, bullies, military families, Darfur, dementia, horses, angels, courtiers, girls in juvie hall - you name it. See for yourself on the final schedule and the author list here. Teen '13 program_proof2 (2) Oh, and to sweeten the deal even more, there's free stuff: six $25 gift cards to Fountain Bookstore (which will be on hand that night); three winners of 30-minute video chats with an author of their choice; and an autographed collection of the entire list of books. Huge smooches to the Hanover High School Jazz band for their talents and to the Friends of the Library who funded the food, the space and all the prizes. (And buttons. Did I…

Meg Medina

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Adult books Guests Latino Life

August 19, 2013

James River Writers Conference Spotlight: Elizabeth Huergo

About this time of year, I start to perk up with bookish anticipation. The autumn brings us the Virginia Literary Festival (Oct 16 - 20, 2013), anchored in part by the James River Writers Conference. Now in its eleventh year, the JRW Conference is a special treat for the writing community since it gathers nationally-recognized and bestselling authors in our city for three days of fun and learning. This year, I'm especially happy to find debut novelist (and fellow Latina author) Elizabeth Huergo on the impressive roster. Elizabeth is a scholar of literature (receiving her M.A. in 19th-century American Literature and her Ph.D. in British Romanticism from Brown University), and she has taught at a number of colleges and universities, including Rhode Island College, American University, and George Mason University. Her novel, The Death of Fidel Perez (Unbridled Books, 2013), is set in modern day Cuba against the eternal question, What if Fidel fell? Here Elizabeth and I talk about our shared cultural roots and the challenges of conveying the pain and complexities of political history in writing. You left Cuba as a girl during the years immediately following the Cuban revolution. What had your life been like until then? Where did your family settle in the United States? Elizabeth and her mother in 1961, weeks before they would leave Cuba I was born in May of 1959. My mother and I left Cuba when I was about three years old. My father had to leave about a year before us for political…

Meg Medina

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