JOSEPH M. JABLONSKI, known around town as The Walking Mall Poet, is a typewriting street poet of Old Town Winchester. He has written hundreds of on-the-spot poems for strangers downtown and at events. When he is not writing poems and letters by oil lamp and typewriter, he writes code for a tech company that builds tools for nonprofits. This is Joe’s second appearance at SYWW. His session will defy the “Poetry takes time” mantra as he teaches young writers how to produce quick poetry commissions on-demand for a specific audience. Read more about Joe in The Winchester Star. Jablonski will be visiting us on Monday.
LaTasha Do’zia is the founding director of Selah Theatre Project. Do’zia will teach a session on writing for the stage. Writers are invited to enter the FOLLY No Justice – No Peace contest. Do’Zia will be visiting us on Tuesday.
DIANE TARANTINI, is an award-winning writer with a slice-of-life blog and a brand new children’s book titled, The Brave Knight.She is a survivor of child sexual abuse, which prompted her to write The Brave Knight and become a body safety educator in the state of West Virginia. She’s also: a wife, mother, Nan, cat and coffee lover, a really good cook, and a human addicted to learning stuff and sharing it with her friends. Tarantini will be visiting us on Wednesday.
FRED BOWEN writes the Thursday sports column for kids in “The Washington Post.” He’s been a lifelong sports enthusiast, which influenced his writing career, including a sports-fiction series (Peachtree Publishers) for boys and girls (ages 8-12) and a picture-book biography of Red Sox legend Ted Williams titled “No Easy Way” (Dutton Children’s Books). Bowen will be visiting us on Thursday.
TRUDY LUDWIG is an acclaimed children’s advocate, speaker, and award-winning author of numerous children’s books, including The Invisible Boy. Trudy has collaborated with leading experts and organizations, including Sesame Workshop, to help kids connect with their peers in kinder, more inclusive ways. Ludwig will be visiting us on Thursday.
ALICIA D. WILLIAMS is the author of Genesis Begins Again. Alicia D also debuted a picture book biography, Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston. And, followed up with Shirley Chisholm Dared: The Story of the First Black Woman in Congress. Alicia shares a passion for storytelling which stems from conducting school residencies as a Master Teaching Artist of arts-integration. Alicia D infuses her love for drama, movement, and storytelling to inspire students to write. Williams will be visiting us on Friday.
JASMINE WARGA is the New York Times-bestselling author of middle grade novels Other Words For Home and The Shape of Thunder. She is also the author of young adult books, My Heart and Other Black Holes and Here We Are Now, which have been translated into over twenty different languages. Her next novel, A Rover’s Story, will be out on October 4, 2022. Jasmine currently teaches in the MFA program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Originally from Cincinnati, she now lives in the Chicago-area with her family in a house filled with books. Warga will be visiting us on Friday.
