On January 3, the Young Willamette Writers are excited to welcome author and professor Swati Avasthi at The Old Church in downtown Portland.

About Our Speaker –  Swati Avasthi

Swati is the author two novels. Her first, SPLIT (Knopf, 2010) received the International Reading Association Award, Cybils Award, received recognition from 15 US state awards committees, and has been translated into four languages. Her second, CHASING SHADOWS received multiple starred reviews from School Library Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, and Kirkus and was listed as a Best of 2013 by Kirkus, Bank Street College, and YALSA.  Swati holds a BA from The University of Chicago and an MFA from University of Minnesota.  She is professor at Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults and lives in Portland, Oregon with her two dogs, two kids and one husband, though he is worth two.

Great Antagonists

Swati will lead a talk/workshop with the YWW’s about antagonists and writing them well. Here’s what she has to say about her visit:

Story, as we know, is about character and conflict. And who better to create conflict than the antagonist? In this session, we’ll figure out what kind of big bad your story has, how to develop the antagonist, and how that motivates and affects your protagonist. We’ll write exercises and maybe even a scene so bring something to write with and on (paper or computer) and your imagination.

While our YWW meetings may be tempting to adults, they are geared for 5th-10th graders. They are always free and open to any student, no sign-up or registration required. We meet on the first Tuesday of the month, September to June, from 7-8pm at the Old Church in downtown Portland (SW 11th and Clay). We hope to see you there!

Please understand that schedules can change and we do our best to keep you informed.

Interested? We welcome any students from 5th to 10th grade. Join us! There is no cost, no application, no special permission. 

Click here to learn more about Young Willamette Writers.