Young Voices Conference 2007

"Young Voices Writers Conference. Work with professional writers on your creative writing! Meet other youth who like to write. ..."

Being one of participates, I was very honoured to help out with the Young Voices Writer's Conference, which was held yesterday. It enabled me to see a small glimpse as to some of the big responsibilities that entailed being a Y.A (Young Adult) Librarian. It's not an easy job, but I'm sure it is rewarding! (ramp.torontopubliclibrary.ca/secondary/stufftodo/events/youngvoiceswritersconference/three-content.jsp)

There were about 165 students that registered for this awesome workshop, and the turn out was great! Guest speakers included Wayson Choy (writer of "All that Matters" and the "Jade Peony"), Jean Paul (comedian writer), Karen Crossingly (I believe that is how you spell her last name? who is an editor), to name a few. It made me realize how fortune teens in this generation have resources they can turn to, esp. in public libraries. Although I was born in Toronto, I don't recall having such wonderful events as a teen growing up here. I hope events and activities promoted by public libraries continue to thrive, so we can have inspiring young authors, poets and artists always!

The Toronto Public Library has a great resource for teens on their website called Ramp (http://ramp.torontopubliclibrary.ca/)