I spent the day with
over 400 students, teachers, administrators, and parents at the Young
Authors and Readers Conference held by the Bridgeport Public Schools
in conjunction with the University of Bridgeport.
The 400 students had
been selected as winners of the annual book-writing contest. Over
4,000 students had entered the contest. I had a chance to read some of
the books: novels, collections of poems, nonfiction, autobiography.
All of the student authors are to be congratulated for their
outstanding work.
I had the pleasure of
speaking to the winners in Grades 4-6. I talked about my own
(sometimes frustrating) experiences as a young writer, the importance
of perseverance (at all costs), and offered some advice to young
writers (Number 1: Read as much as you can--because then you can see
how other writers write).
Thanks to everyone for
a great day!
