New Young Adult Fiction Workshop: YA First Pages w/ Stephaine Guerra
Who: Stephanie Guerra and Midwest Writing Center
What: YA First Pages
When: October 21 from 6pm – 8pm
Where: Rock Island Public Library Downtown Branch – Community Room (401 19th St. Rock Island, IL 62101)
Cost: $20 for MWC members / $30 for non-members, with scholarships available
Capacity: 10 participants
The Midwest Writing Center is hosting a writing class on YA novels, led by author Stephanie Guerra. This workshop will support the creation of books for teens and help writers to better understand how to write gripping openings for YA novels.
This two-hour workshop will focus on the craft of writing the first five pages of a YA novel. Through instruction, demonstration, reading analysis, group discussion, and generative writing, participants will work through how to establish compelling plot hooks in the first five pages of a YA novel.
This workshop also includes manuscript review from instructor and children’s author Stephanie Guerra. Participants may send the first five pages of their YA manuscript any time in the two weeks following the workshop in order to receive feedback.
Cost of the workshop is $20 for MWC members, $30 for non-members. Thanks to a grant from Quad City Arts, we have full scholarships available for BIPOC writers, students, veterans, and those with financial need; scholarship applications can be found on the MWC website. Registration is available via the link below (note; you do not need a PayPal account) or by calling the MWC office at 309-732-7330.
Instructor Bio:
Stephanie Guerra is an author for children and teens. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Notre Dame and has been teaching college courses on children’s literature and young adult fiction since 2006. Her young adult novel, Torn, received a starred audiobook review from School Library Journal. Kirkus called her “a strong new voice” and Booklist praised her “complex characters.” Stephanie’s first middle-grade novel, Billy the Kid Is Not Crazy, was noted by Kirkus for its “energy, wit and sensitivity” and “strong characterizations.” She is also the author of the Zach and Lucy series for early readers, co-written with Jennifer Bradbury. Zach and Lucy and the Museum of Natural Wonders was a finalist for the 2017 Washington State Book Award in the Books for Young Readers category. Stephanie is currently working on a picture book series set in Davenport.
This workshop is supported by the Illinois Arts Council and Quad City Arts, through the Arts Dollars re-granting program, supported by The Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency, The Hubbell-Waterman Foundation, and the Quad Cities Community Foundation – Isabel Bloom Art Education Endowment.