Teen LitCon
The Twin Cities Teen Lit Con included author talks, writing workshops, arts activities, literary games, and the opportunity for collaboration between student readers, writers, and YA lit aficionados. Attending authors included Toni Adeyemi, Becky Albertalli, Lamar Giles, Jarrett Krosoczka, Sara Biren, Bryan Bliss, Peter Bognanni, Martha Brockenbrough, E. Eero Johnson, J.M. Lee, Alison McGhee, Junauda Petrus, and Jason Walz. Becky Albertalli is the award-winning writer of the book Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, recently made into the movie Love, Simon. Lamar Giles is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books. Toni Adeyemi's novel, Children of Blood and Bone, is a recent Morris Honor Book, and Jarrett Krosoczka's graphic memoir, Hey, Kiddo, was awarded a YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Honor. Minnesota authors Bryan Bliss and Alison McGhee's recent novels were both finalists for the Minnesota Young Adult Literature Book Award. We provided transportation from Marshall to the Twin Cities Teen Lit Con in Mendota Heights, MN. Transportation consisted of two school bus chartered through Southwest Coaches of Marshall, one of which was donated by the Marshall Area PTA.
55 participated
Students will be inspired to read and write, as well as have the opportunity to interact with authors and other attending students. Educators will have the opportunity to meet, learn from, and network with authors and other attending educators. We also wish to continue collaboration between Marshall's schools and public library, as the public school has hired a new employee in the Media Specialist position for the Middle and High School. Participant evaluations and anecdotal responses will be collected.
Common student responses to the trip were that although it was exhausting and long, the day was also "fun", "amazing", "inspiring", and "the best". One student also reported: "It was fun to be able to hang out with friends and meet others who share similar interests. "The most common takeaways from the day's presentations and activities were that you shouldn't take criticism to heart, but you also shouldn't get too full of yourself; that, as creators, reading comments on your work can lead to both of those; and that you should do what you love even if others disagree. The most popular author was Tomi Adeyemi, followed by Lamar Giles; both are authors we would not be able to afford to bring to our region. One of our chaperones was a local poet and teacher; she expressed excitement about meeting other Minnesota authors and having the opportunity to receive an advanced reader copy of a fellow author's upcoming title at the Teen Lit Con.
Marshall Area PTA