CLC Annual Dinner
On Tuesday evening, I had the opportunity to speak at the annual dinner for the Children's Literature Connection. Now, this was a very special event because December 2007 saw the passing of children's literature champion, Micki Nevett. She was a dedicated librarian, active in children's literature associations, and on last year's Newbery Committee (apparently, she was a strong advocate for Wednesday Wars). Her passing is a great loss to children's literature.
Anyhow, the good people of the CLC decided to start an annual award called the Micki Nevett Sparkler Award. This trophy and cash award are given to a true champion of children's literature as well as to the library of his/her choice.
All my photos came out crappy, but here is one of the better ones.
In honor of Micki, two young women sang a tear-jerking song from Gregory Maguire's Wicked and everyone was sharing stories of her. Needless to say, it was daunting to get up there and do my thing after all this. But I did my best. Fortunately, I spoke during dessert so people were in somewhat better spirits. There were around 60 people there, all of whom had some interest in children's literature (author, illustrator, teacher, reading specialist, librarian, etc).
I spoke about my Muse, my Inner Critic and the creative process... and how they battle it out in my head. I was nervous about this one because I had scrapped my original speech and rewrote everything at around 4pm that same afternoon.
Here I am talking from far away. If you look closely, you'll see rear views of![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
artistq, Kyra Teis, and Coleen Paratore. You'll also see my empty seat at the right where a penny appears on the table. That penny meant I won the yellow flowers in the center of the table! Yay me.
Here I am closer up but still far away. I'm actually wearing a tie:
I enjoyed speaking at the event and hope to do this talk again in the future. I felt very unpracticed and know I will knock it out of park next time I do it. And if you were there, I hope you enjoyed it!
Anyhow, the good people of the CLC decided to start an annual award called the Micki Nevett Sparkler Award. This trophy and cash award are given to a true champion of children's literature as well as to the library of his/her choice.
All my photos came out crappy, but here is one of the better ones.
In honor of Micki, two young women sang a tear-jerking song from Gregory Maguire's Wicked and everyone was sharing stories of her. Needless to say, it was daunting to get up there and do my thing after all this. But I did my best. Fortunately, I spoke during dessert so people were in somewhat better spirits. There were around 60 people there, all of whom had some interest in children's literature (author, illustrator, teacher, reading specialist, librarian, etc).
I spoke about my Muse, my Inner Critic and the creative process... and how they battle it out in my head. I was nervous about this one because I had scrapped my original speech and rewrote everything at around 4pm that same afternoon.
Here I am talking from far away. If you look closely, you'll see rear views of
artistq, Kyra Teis, and Coleen Paratore. You'll also see my empty seat at the right where a penny appears on the table. That penny meant I won the yellow flowers in the center of the table! Yay me.Here I am closer up but still far away. I'm actually wearing a tie:
I enjoyed speaking at the event and hope to do this talk again in the future. I felt very unpracticed and know I will knock it out of park next time I do it. And if you were there, I hope you enjoyed it!