Writing for children who ‘don’t really want to read’
YA authors share their process at Unbound: Teen Lit Fair
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MARSHALL – Several young adult authors came down to SMSU to the Unbound: Teen Lit Fair Monday to discuss the experiences and stories that led them to writing.
The event was headed by Bethany Kauffman, the executive director of Prairielands Library Exchange, in collaboration with the Plum Creek and Pioneerland Library systems.
Kauffman said the literature fair is part of her broader work to help raise awareness of local libraries, and get children more excited about reading. She said she specifically picked out Minnesota authors and authors that write books for "teens and tweens" in the 10 to 18 year old range.
"I read some of the stuff from all these authors," Kauffman said. "This whole event's been really fun."
One of the first things everyone saw was Hector Curriel's caricature booth, with a host of artwork from when he was as young as 12 years old.
Born and raised in Lima, Peru, Curriel first became inspired to draw at 9 years old. He went to a local theater with his parents to watch a Disney movie. He said the movie’s animation and artwork inspired him to make art of his own.
He continued graphic design as a hobby while he went to college in Peru for architecture. After his 2000 graduation, Curiel came to the United States, working as a freelance artist and illustrator, on top of his architecture work.
Through that freelance work Curiel got the opportunity to publish his first Graphic novel "American Ace,” which follows the true story of Joe Foss, a Medal of Honor recipient, the former governor of South Dakota and one of the founders of the Super Bowl.
“I didn’t know anything about this guy, because I’m from Peru," Curriel said. "I decided to go to the library and look for any information about Joe Foss, and they gave me his autobiography and I started reading the book and fell in love with his remarkable life.”
It took Curriel three years of research, writing, and illustrations before he published the book in 2023, he said. Currently, he's working on promoting "American Ace" and working on his next graphic novel, which will cover the story of General Beadle and his work in American education, he said.
The Teen Literature fair also came with some presentations. Geoff Halbrach and Juliana Brandt, both young adult authors, came up to discuss how their lives led them to writing novels, and what their inspirations were.
Halbrach, a young adult fiction author and creative writing professor at Minnesota State University Mankato, spoke first. He reminisced about his high school experiences becoming friends with a bully and driving to school with him every day, then not knowing how to use his writing skills to his benefit, getting fired from his job in journalism. Halbrach said he had trouble writing the truth.
Eventually, Halbrach got a job working on a comedy show. It was successful, and even got to perform it in New York City. But that success left him away from his family. Not wanting to miss his children growing up, he decided to leave the show. But he still wanted to use his skills for something.
"I was kinda funny and I was kinda good at writing," Halbrach said. "That can get you pretty far in life, but I still felt like there was something missing."
After coming back and seeing how much his son had grown, Halbrach said it inspired him to get back into writing novels. That’s where his second published book -- “Stupid Fast” -- about a student after one summer goes from a small scrawny child to a massive jock.
"I write best when I write for kids who don’t really want to read," Halbrach said.
The next presentation came from Juliana Brandt. As well as being a second grade teacher, she has so far published five young adult novels.
As a child, Brandt played pretend and made up stories in her head, for what she considers longer than many other kids did. She continued to write all throughout high school and college, writing her first full book right after graduation. However, Brant said it would take 10 years and 14 books for her work to be published for the first time.
When Brandt started publishing books, she always emphasized the setting and meaning of place in her novels. Each of the five books she published always takes place into account, and are even inspired by a place she's been. Brand said she always takes that setting and puts a fantastical twist on it.
"There’s always magic in my books," Brandt said. "That’s something you'll notice if you read them."
From Cape Cod to the Appalachia or using a board game to make a haunted house, Brandt said she always uses place. In her most recent novel --”Replay Trap” -- she used the Wildlife Science Center in Minnesota as inspiration. According to Brandt, the center is one of the top research facilities for wolves.
More Minnesota-based authors came to the event with booths and books set up. Historical fiction writer Erin Makela recently published the second book in her Revolutionary War trilogy "Enterprising and Dangerous.” She said she wanted her book to cover the less-talked about parts of the war, like the battle of Fort Ticonderoga.
H.M. Bowman is a fiction writer who recently finished her novel "Scattergood," which is about life on the farm in the midst of the World War II. Bowman said she interviewed many people alive during that time to get their firsthand account of what life was like.
Other booths at the event hosted board games and taught students how to play Magic: The Gathering. Another booth came from the state of Minnesota, showing off their eLibrary that hosts over 10,000 electronic books any Minnesota resident can access for free.