Hey, Grand Rapids! Is Spring There Yet?

Next week (April 10-14, 2014), I'm delighted to be participating in the Festival of Faith and Writing , "the biennial writing festival at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, celebrating matters of faith."

I'll be presenting a solo talk called "It's Just Fiction: Reading and Writing about Race, Culture, and Power," and am participating in a panel discussion on YA fiction with Swathi Avasti and Pam Muñoz Ryan . I'm also sitting on a panel focusing on writing and social justice with Uwem Akpan , a writer of fiction and Jesuit priest serving in Nigeria, and playwright Ashley Lucas . The framing question will be something like this: "To what extent can—or should—art serve to shine a light on injustice?"

Other Kid/YA book folks will be presenting at the Festival, including Gene Luen Yang (keynoting), Ron Koertge, Michele Wood, and Deborah Heiligman. Literary luminaries who write for adults, including Anne Lamott, James McBride, Miroslav Wolf, will also be there. Follow the Festival on twitter with this hashtag: #ffwgr , and here's the schedule of events and full list of speakers .

Come visit me on the Fire Escape!