I saw two more authors at separate programs, yesterday.
- Sarah Beth Durst is YA fantasy writer, and a native of Massachusetts. Her books Into the Wild and Out of the Wild imagine what it would be like if Northborough had characters from fairy tales living in it. She discussed different elements of fantasy, including other worlds, magical beings in this world (what she called Fairies in the Coffee Pot), and people from this world going to other world (through the Wardrobe, she called it). She also mentioned why one would want to read fantasy, including escapism, empowerment, understanding, and experimentation. Sarah mentioned a lot of authors who were examples of all genres, which I appreciated. She also talked about how to start writing prompts when conducting writing groups in the library. One prompt could be to change one aspect of the real world, another would be to choose a well known story and decide what happens next. As a librarian who doesn't read a lot of fantasy, I really appreciated hearing about examples of authors to recommend to fantasy crazy readers. Sarah also made me realize that I read some more fantasy than I thought when she mentioned some authors whose works I've read and enjoyed.
- Michael Cunningham was the speaker, last night. Cunningham is the author of The Hours (think Nicole Kidman with the big nose), as well as The Home at the End of the World. He had a discussion with Barbara Hoffert of Library Journal which, admitedly would have been a little hard to follow if you hadn't read any of his books. However, he was very engaging and had a great personality. It was also interesting hearing him talk about the making of the movie for The Hours. Barbara also asked very detailed questions and seemed to know the books very well. She definitely did her homework. I was very excited to have Mr. Cunningham autograph a copy of one of his books for my mother.
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