2005 March 5 : Deborah Ellis, YA author

WRITING
FOR TEENS
& YOUNG
ADULTS

A seminar with
Deborah Ellis,
Canadian author of
young adult novels

2005 March 5
Museo Pambata
Roxas Boulevard, Manila

In photo at left and below : Deborah Ellis and panelists Krip Yuson, Ani Almario, Neni Sta. Romana Cruz, Gino Luayon, and Gwenn Galvez. (Photos by Mark Taguiwalo)

Who was there, what we did

The attendees included five teachers from International School Manila, three students, two marketing staff of a children's book publishing house, and three published children's authors who are also SCBWI members. After a short introduction from Beaulah Taguiwalo, SCBWI Regional Advisor, Deborah talked about her books and her experience as a writer. This was followed by a panel discussion, then lunch. Shown below are some pictures taken during the panel discussion.


In the afternoon, SCBWI member Carla Pacis conducted a writing workshop. Participants ended up ready to write the first chapter of their YA novel. In fact, some of them were almost done with the first draft of their chapter! The day ended with some of the participants happy to receive surprise gift copies of Deborah's books, which were donated by her publisher and given away as door prizes by the organizers. Shown below are some pictures of Carla and the workshop participants.

All in all, it was a successful seminar. Those present were thrilled to meet Deborah and loved listening to her talk about her writing experience, the issues that drive her writing, and how her books came to be published. They also liked the panelists' different viewpoints on what young adults are like and how young adult literature should be defined. They also liked the writing workshop that SCBWI member Carla Pacis conducted in the afternoon, and asked for more of it future events.

What our attendees said

"I really loved meeting Deborah Ellis! She's so cool! I've never met a writer who's gone to war-torn refugee camps and written stories about the lives of children she's met there. I am inspired to tell stories that, as Deborah puts it, make people who are distant from us seem more human, more real, and just like the rest of us." (Fran Ng, author-illustrator)

"I'm in the process of writing a book [but] I find it difficult to find the time to write. After listening to Deborah I felt inspired and I plan to make myself write...I also enjoyed Carla's workshop and started a story that I've been meaning to write for 20 years!" (Victoria Egan, ISM teacher)

"It helped me organize my thoughts and ideas on how to go about structuring a short story and possibly a YA novel." (Gidget Jimenez, author)

"The writing workshop of Carla Pacis was very useful. As a teacher it is sometimes difficult to remember what we are asking of our students. The workshop was an opportunity to regain a feeling of empathy for our students' writing experiences and a reminder that when engaged interactively we are more stimulated. I would really enjoy more author presentations, especially Filipino authors, and to learn more about what motivates authors and their writing process." (Patrice Hill, ISM teacher)

About Deborah Ellis

Deborah Ellis is a writer who also works as a mental health residential counselor in Toronto. Her first novel for young teens, Looking for X, published in Fall 1999, won the 2000 Governor General's Award for Children's Text, as well as being shortlisted for the 1999 Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award and the 2001 Silver Birch Reading Award. It was published in the US in Spring 2000 to acclaim in The Horn Book, Booklist and School Library Journal.

In 1999, Deborah spent several months talking with women and girls in the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan and Russia. During her stay, she met the mother and sister of a girl in Kabul who cut off her hair, put on boy's clothes and sold things off a tray in the marketplace to support her family. This reminded her of children's enormous capacity for acts of courage and creative survival when the adult world conspires to stifle their future. The incident inspired Deborah to write her second teen novel, The Breadwinner, published in Fall 2000. It has been shortlisted for the Red Maple Reading Award 2001. All the royalties from The Breadwinner are being donated to the education of Afghan girls in the refugee camps in Pakistan.

More about Deborah at http://www.allen-unwin.com.au/authors/apEllis.asp

At left are some of Deborah's books that she brought to the seminar.