Capturing the Young Adult Voice

Instructor: Lilliam Rivera

Saturday, July 27th
10 a.m. to noon
Collective Impact Center
3295 Meade Ave (basement, access in rear parking lot)
San Diego, CA 92116

Tuition: after July 10th: $40
Registration: Click here
Scholarships: Apply by July 10th here (Google form)
To sponsor a scholarship: email lastexitliterary@gmail.com

Course description:

The Hate You Give. The Outsiders. Children of Blood and Bone. Walk in to any bookstore and you will find an exciting array of young adult books that covers every genre—from contemporary stories tackling social justice themes to science fiction bringing other worlds to life. If you’ve ever wanted to write a novel through the perspective of a young person, this is the workshop for you. This workshop will break down the mystery of capturing the young adult voice to writing realistic dialogue. We will study excerpts from young adult authors and tackle generative writing to get you starting writing the young adult novel you’ve been wanting to write.

About the instructor:

Lilliam Rivera is an award-winning writer and author of the young adult novels Dealing in Dreams (March 2019) and The Education of Margot Sanchez (February 2017), by Simon & Schuster and available in bookstores everywhere. Dealing In Dreams has been featured in Teen Vogue, PBS Books, Los Angeles Times, Bustle, among other outlets, and has received starred reviews by the School Library Journal and Booklist.

The Education of Margot Sanchez was nominated for a 2019 Rhode Island Teen Book Award, a 2017 Best Fiction for Young Adult Fiction by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), and has been featured on NPR, New York Times Book Review, New York magazine, MTV.com, and Teen Vogue, among others.

She is a 2016 Pushcart Prize winner and a 2015 Clarion alumni with a Leonard Pung Memorial Scholarship. Lilliam has also been awarded fellowships from PEN Center USA, A Room Of Her Own Foundation, and received a grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation and the Speculative Literature Foundation. Her short story “Death Defiant Bomba” received honorable mention in Bellevue Literary Review’s 2014 Goldenberg Prize for Fiction, selected by author Nathan Englander. She recently received honorable mention in the 2018 James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award.

Lilliam’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Elle, Lenny Letter, Tin House, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, to name a few. She has been a featured speaker in countless schools and book festivals throughout the United States and teaches creative writing workshops.