'Every writer's foremost requirement'

 

“Over the years, my students influenced megreatly, and I’ve learned many lessons from

them. I have an immense amount of respectfor them, and I think that respect for your

audience is the foremost requirement foranyone who wants to write.” – Susan Campbell

Bartoletti

 

Born in Pennsylvania in November of 1958, Bartolettiwas a writing teacher for 20 years

before turning to writing herself, inspired by thejunior high students she was teaching at

the time. Working with kids also gave her many of thetraits and patterns she uses in

developing her characters.  “I felt immense satisfaction in watching mystudents grow as

writers and I wanted to practice what Ipreached.”  

 

After publishing her first short story in 1989, shewrote her first children’s book, Silver at

Night, in 1992. Since then she's authored 15  more books, both fiction and nonfiction,

including Growing Up in Coal Country, Dancing WithDziadziu, and Hitler Youth:

Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow,winner of the Newbery Medal.

 

The winner of numerous other awards including theGolden Kite Award for Nonfiction,

and the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, she stillteaches but now her students are

Master’s degree candidates in various writing programsas well as enrollees in writing

workshops across the nation.  

 

Character development remains at the heart of everypiece that she does and what she

stresses to her writingstudents.   “When I create a character, it happens in layers,”she

said.  “The more I write and revise, thebetter I understand my characters.”