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Idaho Librarian |
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Children's Author Duey Shares her ideas
Sandra Shropshire, Idaho State University Library That a children’s author is also an oral storyteller is no revelation. That one would hold the attention of a room full of adults for nearly an hour is perhaps less so. Kathleen Duey, author and speaker, risked little when she began her address at the ILA Annual Conference opening session, asserting her belief that, “Literacy is what sets us apart from the primates”. Her subsequent tales of experiences reaching today’s kids by writing meticulously researched historical fiction and reinforcing her unabashed belief in the courage of the human race and its ability to survive its trials, though, are what seemed to cement a bond with her audience. “The connection of the past with the present is not a bit tenuous”, she stated emphatically to the audience. And, indeed, she illustrated this credo by relating real-life experiences she has uncovered from her research in primary materials--diaries, journals, public records. Make a few cosmetic changes, she suggests and these stories could come from today's headlines. I met with Ms. Duey later that day, and learned more about her motivations and life as an author. A self-described “auto-didact”, she is articulate and thoughtful in her responses. She has been writing in some form most of her life, and was first inspired by a book-loving third grade teacher, Mrs. Fredericksen, and then strongly encouraged by a high school English teacher, Mr. Duen. Serious writing for her began in her mid-30’s, and is showing no signs of abating. Kathleen regularly makes speaking engagements at schools about her books, literacy, and human experiences. She counts on, for boys, wooing girls, and, for girls, hair and fashion, as surefire hooks with her young audiences. The hooks appear to be effective, judging by the connections she describes as having with her young audiences. She told of one child who, following her presentation, enthusiastically embraced her and then ran off wordlessly. He’d attempted suicide a few weeks prior to then, she’d been told when she asked later. I wanted to know about the more practical side of being an author today. Ms. Duey has published over 50 books and presently works on different series with four publishers: Aladdin Books, Pocket Books, Atheneum Books, and HarperCollins. This suggests that she is usually working on several books at once. Working on books for her involves a considerable amount of research using primary sources, fomenting ideas based on her own observations and experiences, and a good part of the day spent writing at her PC. Her series center on sub-genres within historical fiction and fantasy. Her series arrangements are such that, say, four books are agreed upon and published, after which their success is evaluated. Many believe, she says, that authors believe that authors fall into one of two camps: those who write for commercial success, and those who write for literary success. She believes that it’s possible to do both and wants to be one who does. Her American Diaries series has 17 titles, and Survival, 11, which certainly says something about her commercial success. Readers will judge for themselves on the rest. I asked her about taking new directions and she described a recent project with an independent publisher which includes a young adult contemporary fantasy aimed squarely at enticing young boys away from their video games. She’s experimented in other areas and remains open to new ideas to try. She travels in circles that include other children’s authors, publishers, educators, illustrators, including attending meetings of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) and ALA . In describing her work, Ms. Duey says that she tries to impart to children a “sense of belonging to the human family”, a “feeling of optimism”, and an “awareness of their own power”. My final question was, given these aims, how she thinks the children’s authors community will respond to recent terrorism in the United States. After pausing a bit, she answered that, first, they'll need to absorb it themselves, but that after that, they'll respond in an artistically responsible way. Explaining what she meant by that, she said that they all do different types of work--some lighthearted "bunny" stories, some fantasy, some adventure. Each of these fills a needed niche; is a part of the "human conversation". Needs for each of these niches continue to be there--perhaps now more so than ever. Therefore, she senses that "we'll all continue to make available what's always been available" Learn more about Ms. Duey and her books at http://www.kathleenduey.com |