Writing Authentic YA Fiction (sold out)
Featuring
- Holden SheppardSee more about Holden Sheppard
Sep 29, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm
Centre for Stories
In this interactive workshop, award-winning Young Adult author Holden Sheppard will explore the nuances of writing full-length works of fiction in the YA category. The workshop will examine the generic and thematic expectations and conventions of the YA space and guide writers through how to best manage and work with these in the context of their own creative work.
Participants will undertake practical exercises and investigate techniques for cultivating an authentic narrative voice, writing spontaneous and natural-sounding dialogue and avoiding cliché to create teen characters who feel real. Considerations for selling YA fiction to agents and publishers – including the marketplace restrictions of YA – will also be discussed and explored.
This workshop is a safe, welcoming and constructive space for writers of any skill level.
Please note, we do not offer ticket refunds. If you wish to pass your ticket on to someone else, please notify us at: info@centreforstories.com.
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Holden Sheppard
Collapse BioHolden Sheppard is an award-winning Young Adult author born and bred in Geraldton, Western Australia. His debut novel, Invisible Boys (Fremantle Press, 2019), won the 2018 City of Fremantle T.A.G. Hungerford Award, the 2019 Kathleen Mitchell Award and the 2017 Ray Koppe Residency Award. It was also shortlisted for the 2020 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards.Holden’s novella ‘Poster Boy’ won the 2018 Novella Project competition and was published in Griffith Review. His other writing has been published in Westerly, page seventeen, Indigo Journal, Ten Daily and the Huffington Post, and his true story featured in the Bright Lights, No City anthology (Margaret River Press, 2019). Holden serves as the Deputy Chair of WritingWA, and as an ambassador for Lifeline WA.Holden has always been a misfit: a gym junkie who has played Pokemon competitively, a sensitive geek who loves aggressive punk rock, and a bogan who learned to speak French. He lives in Perth with his husband.
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