Writing for Young Adults: Jenny Valentine & Keith Gray, Guest Lindsey Fraser

Writing for Young Adults: Jenny Valentine & Keith Gray, Guest Lindsey Fraser

Date/Time
Date(s) - Mon 29th Jul - Sat 3rd Aug, 2019
12:00am

Location
Moniack Mhor, Kiltarlity, Inverness-shire , IV4 7HT


How to Write What Teenagers Want to Read

Young Adult (YA) fiction was dismissed by many in the 90s, only to explode in the 2000s attracting almost as many writers as readers. Nowadays it has detached itself from the rest of children’s fiction and is its own complex, challenging, fun, engaging section of every library and bookshop. This course will provide inspiration, insight and advice on writing for teenagers, how to access this unique readership and how to make your novel stand out on the shelf.

Jenny Valentine is an award-winning writer for young adults. Her first novel Finding Violet Park was published in 2007 and since then she has written five novels for young adults and four for children. Her work has been published in 19 countries and her latest YA novel will be published in 2019. In 2017 she was the Hay Festival International Fellow, spending the year meeting and learning from teenagers all over the world. She works to empower and give a voice to young people. She lives in Wales and London and has two daughters.

Keith Gray decided it might be a good idea to take his writing ambition seriously after receiving 0% in his accountancy exams at university. His debut, Creepers, was published when he was only 24 and was shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize. Since then his books have either won or been shortlisted for awards all over the world including the Sankei Cultural Publishing Prize of Japan, the American Library Association Best Books (YA), the CILIP Carnegie Medal and the Scottish Children’s Book Awards. His novel Ostrich Boys has been adapted for the stage. In 2017 he moved to live in Vienna, Austria, with his partner and their daughter.

Lindsey Fraser is one half of Fraser Ross Associates, the Edinburgh-based literary agency she established in 2002 with Kathryn Ross. Following their 10 years at Scottish Book Trust, the agency was the ideal next step given their enthusiasm for and knowledge of children’s books and the publishing industry, and their experience in readership development. Lindsey has reviewed children’s books for several national newspapers, and been a judge for many of the major literary awards for children’s literature. FRA now represents over 50 writers and illustrators from all over the UK, and works with young writers through The Pushkin Prizes.

www.fraserross.co.uk

 

 


Bookings

This course is now fully booked. Please contact us on info@moniackmhor.org.uk or 01463 741 675 to be added to the waiting list.


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