Youth Literature Seminar History
Authors and speakers featured during previous seminars
2018: “Choose to Read”
Jennifer L. Holm
Matthew Holm
Colby Sharp
Ernest Morrell
2017: 40th Anniversary Event
Javaka Steptoe
Matt Faulkner
Mitali Perkins
Gary Schmidt
Ed Spicer
K.T. Horning
Cindy Dobrez
Lynn Rutan
2016: “The Refreshing Fountain: Reading & Writing for All”
Naomi Shihab Nye (author, poet)
Jennifer Clark (Kalamazoo author)
Ed Spicer (educator)
2015: “Mirrors & Windows”
Jacqueline Woodson (author)
Kathleen T. Horning (educator)
Jason Reynolds (author)
2014: “It’s Ok to Read”
Todd Parr (author/illustrator)
Ed Spicer (teacher)
Dr. Mary Bigler (EMU professor)
2013: “Breakthrough”
Ally Condie (author)
Michael Cart (writer, lecturer, consultant)
Robin Brenner (Massachusetts Teen Librarian)
Cindy Dobrez & Lynn Rutan (book reviewers)
2012: “Art of the Pop-Up Book”
Robert Sabuda (author, paper engineer)
Jeff Abshear (founder and director, Kalamazoo Book Arts Center)
Maria Pérez-Stable and Beth Amidon (educators)
2011
Holly Black (author) “On the Edge: Reading, Teens, Transformation”
Eli Neiburger (IT associate director, author) “Text, Tech & Teens in This Century”
Barry Goldblatt (publisher) “Content and Changes”
Cindy Dobrez & Lynn Rutan (book reviewers)
2010
Cynthia Leitich Smith (author) “Crossing Borders in Native Fiction”
Debbie Reese (author, instructor)
Gillian Engberg (managing editor) “Me, You, Us: Breaking Down Borders with Books for Kids”
Maria Pérez-Stable and Beth Amidon (educators)
2009
Lisa McMann (author) “I Want To Believe”
James A. Owen (illustrator, storyteller, author) “Drawing Out the Dragons: A Meditation on Art, Destiny, and the Power of Choice”
2008
Kadir Nelson (artist, illustrator, author) “Picture Books for the Ages”
Sharon Flake and Angela Johnson (authors) “Teens on Track”
2007
Paul O. Zelinksy and Steven Kellogg (authors/illustrators) “Books Tell the Story”
John Green and M.T. Anderson (authors) “Guys Read, Too!”
2006
Pat Mora (author) “Share Bookjoy!”
Ron Koertge and Sonya Sones (authors) “All Teens Read”
2005
Denise Fleming (author/artist) “Step Into the Picture”
Laurie Halse Anderson and Terry Trueman (authors) – Hearing the Silent Scream: Detecting Teens in Distress
2004
Wong Herbert Yee (author/illustrator) “Stories for Our Eyes”
Jacqueline Woodson (author) “Igniting Teen Activism in a Diverse World”
2003
Kate DiCamillo (author) “The Story of Story and Me”
Chris Crutcher (author) “Turning Real Life into Fiction”
2002
Naomi Shihab Nye (author & poet) “Poetry, Peace and Unity”
2001
Gloria Whelan and Janie Lynn Panagopoulos (authors) “Journey Through Michigan”
2000
Patricia Lee Gauch (author/editor), Judith St. George (author), and David Small (author/illustrator) “So You Want to Make a Book”
1999
José-Luis Orozco (storyteller/musician) “Lyrical Learning”
1998
Rafe Martin (author/storyteller) “A Storyteller’s Tale”
1997
Jerry (illustrator), Gloria Jean (author), and Brian (author/illustrator) “Pinkney In the Family Tradition”
1996
Christopher Paul Curtis and Carol Fenner (authors) “The Writing Life: Michigan’s 1996 Newbery Connection”
1995
Miriam Bat-Ami (author), Wendy Anderson Halperin (author/illustrator), and Ellen Howard (author) “Many Voices, Many Visions”
1994
Floyd Cooper (illustrator) – Painting Backwards: A Visit with Floyd Cooper
1993
Patricia Polacco (author/illustrator) “Growing Up in a Multicultural World”
1992
Richard Brown (photographer) and Joan Donaldson (author) “The Life of the Child in the 1830s”
1991
David Small (author/illustrator) and Sarah Stewart (author) “A Creative Partnership”
1990
Jack Prelutsky (poet) “A Poetry Celebration”
1989
Julius Lester (author) “The Author as Storyteller”
1988
Jerry Pinkney (illustrator) “Personal Vision”
1987
Rikki Levinson (author) “How a Book Is Made”
Patricia Lee Gauch (author/editor) “This Time”
1986
Tasha Tudor (author/illustrator) “A Day with Tasha Tudor”
1985
David Small (author/illustrator) “The Christmas Box”
1984
David Small (author/illustrator) and Burr Tillstrom (puppeteer) “A Day with Burr Tillstrom and His Friend David Small”
1983
Steven Kellogg (author/illustrator) “The Art of the Picture Book”
1982
Anne Pellowski and John Langstaff (storytellers) “World of Storytelling”
1981
George Latshaw (puppeteer) and Spencer Shaw “Animating Images: The Power of the Puppeteer”
1980
Mort Schindel (animator from Weston Woods) “Putting Children’s Literature in Motion”
1979
Annie Geiger (storyteller) and Carol Fenner (author) “Magic Carpet Ride”
1978
Caroline Feller Bauer (storyteller) – Creative Ways to Introduce Literature to Children