Erin Bow

Readings

A writer's journey: Writing Plain Kate took me six years. Let me walk students through getting an idea and creating characters - through writer's block and the long slog of the first draft - through editing your own work - through finding an agent and the excitement of making a sale.

And then comes the fun part: a two-foot tall stack of manuscripts that represent my work with my editors and copy editors. I'll show specific examples of editorial comments and revisions, and talk generally about how to make a story stronger. I also provide resources for students who are interested in publishing their own work, and I take questions all along the way.

Special Equipment:

None

Book Sales:

Where this is wanted. I confirm with organizers before hand.

Workshops

How-to haiku: I'm a well-known haiku writer, and I lead haiku workshops for students as young as grade two. Get beyond 5-7-5 and learn about season words -- about the haiku leap -- and about looking at the everyday world with haiku eyes. My most recent class, fourth graders, wrote these:

My beautiful horse
had a beautiful foal
too close to winter
The maples are fire colour
We are burning leafs
The smoke smells yellow

I also talk about how haiku is traditionally combined with images and used in decoration. A "tanabata tree" makes a great all-school project.
This presentation works best with a single class, but can be given to an auditorium full. Allow me to recommend a mixed group: various ages, mix special education and gifted classes together.

Special Equipment:

Need a chalkboard or flip chart for a small class, an overhead projector for large group/auditorium presentation.

Book Sales:

Where this is wanted. I confirm with organizers before hand.

Other Presentations

I have given keynote or panel presentation on a variety of topics, including:

Gathering oral history
Writing and faith
Creativity
My experience as a literacy tutor
The intersections of science and poetry

See, for instance, this speech on how being a student scientist has served me as a poet and novelist:
http://erinbow.com/blog/2011/07/Simpleminded.shtml

Biography

I'm a writer living in Kitchener, Ontario – though I’m originally from the prairies.
I was born in Des Moines and raised in Omaha—where I was fond of tromping through wood lots and reading books by flashlight. In high school I captained the debate team, founded the math club, and didn’t date much. In university I studied particle physics, and worked briefly at the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) near Geneva, Switzerland.
I loved physics, but it’s not the best career to combine with another passion, and soon I chose to pack it in and devote my energy to my true love: writing.

I have four books published, including two books of poetry from Wolsak and Wynn: Ghost Maps: Poems for Carl Hruska and Seal up the Thunder. Both are published under my maiden name, Erin Noteboom. Ghost Maps is a biography in verse, drawn from the stories told to me by a man who survived the Battle of the Bulge in World War Two. Seal up the Thunder is a collection drawn from the forms and untold stories of the Bible, which are largely the stories of women. My poetry has won a handful of prizes, including the CBC Literary Award and the Acorn/Plantos prize. I write in a variety of forms and teach workshops on haiku, specializing in haiku for kids.

My first novel, a fantasy for young readers entitled Plain Kate, has a fistful of shortlists: The Canadian Library Association book of the year, the Sunburst Award for literature of the fantastic, the Rocky Mountain Book award. It won one of Canada’s top prizes, the TD Canadian Children's Literary Award. Written under the spell of Russian fairy tales, Plain Kate is about an orphaned wood carver’s daughter who is forced into selling her shadow – and her dangerous quest to get it back.