NPR article on Utah's Teen Writers

I just wanted to share an interesting article that Sydney Salter (director of the UT/ID chapter of SCBWI) brought to my attention. The reporter mentions several famous Utah children's authors as well as the apparent concentration of children's authors flowing from within the state and from our universities.

A year or so ago, I remember a comment made at the annual SCBWI fall workshop. One of the aspiring authors had attended a workshop on the east coast. When others attendees discovered that she was from Utah, one of them asked her, "What do they put in the water back there in Utah? That state seems to produce more than their fair share of good children's writers." As one who is aspiring to be one of those "good children's writers," I would have responded to that person's comments as follows.

I think it is due to our firm family and religious values, values that are based on truths that transcend the ages and speak to one's inner soul, whether child or adult. And these values carry forth in our writing, making great heros and realistic villians. After all, the LDS belief in the pre-mortal war in heaven gives us the best example ever to be had of the perfect protaganist and antagonist.