Photo Credit: The Adroit Journal. Samantha Marcus, Turn to Clear Vision. Grade 11, New Canaan, CT.

Hi! My name is Peter LaBerge. I am a seventeen-year-old high school student born and raised in Connecticut. This year, I received a Gold Medal in Poetry and a Silver Medal in Flash Fiction from The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. I also received the 2012 Elizabeth Bishop Prize in Verse as well as the 2011 Renee Duke Youth Award from Poets for Human Rights.

In November 2010, I founded The Adroit Journal, a literary magazine for all ages with a special leaning towards the work of young writers and global human rights issues. The journal has claimed over 1,300 submissions from writers and artists across the creative spectrum—from college students in New York City to retired farmers living on the Spanish coast. Read More

"The Arrival," by Shaun Tan. Published by Arthur A. Levine Books (2009).

Scholastic author and illustrator Shaun Tan shared some of the secrets behind his work in this interview. Tan is the author of numerous illustrated works, including The Arrival (2007) and Tales from Outer Suburbia (2009). This interview first appeared in The School Library Journal.

With a wordless debut novel (The Arrival, 2007, Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine) and a collection of 15 stories (Tales from Outer Suburbia, 2009, Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine), Shaun Tan continues to gain worldwide attention for his work. In June 2009, The School Library Journal spoke with him about the perils of fame, the nature of his writing, and his inspiration. Read More

Adroit Journal. Fabio Rodrigues, Awkward, Right?. Grade 11, Tampa, FL. Photography.

Hello! My name is Peter LaBerge. I am a tenth grader living in Connecticut. I have a passion for writing that was born entirely by coincidence. My first poem was written a year ago as the result of a mandatory deadline for a school-wide literary magazine. If I hadn’t been required to submit writing, I doubt I would call myself a writer today.
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Charlie Barber. Baggage. Grade 12, Age 17. Gold Medal, 2010.

Kris, a high school senior, asked Ned for advice on starting your career as a writer and getting published.

Kris asked:

I’m a high school senior and an aspiring novelist. I’ve gotten through my first novel (and a second), but I’m unsure where to go from here. I know I want to eventually get them published, but should I wait until I finish high school and/or college to try to pursue my career or maybe look for an agent now? How did you start out?

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Soomin Kim, "Dream2." Age 13, Grade 7. 2010 Silver Medal, Painting.

For many people aspiring to do anything, the wait for a big break can seem eternal. Author Rick Moody’s advice to recipients of the 2009 Scholastic Awards was: “Be patient.”

Rick Moody: If I had one bit of advice for all younger writers, all beginning writers, all apprentice writers, that advice would be as follows: be patient. There’s no rush. When I was writing my first novel I was still working at Farrar, Straus & Giroux in New York City, my boss, the estimable editor in chief at that particular house (himself a poet), and I were once talking about writing and trying to edit at the same time, and how work inevitably took a toll on the writing. Read More

American author John Steinbeck found his writing voice during the Great Depression. In this open letter to all aspiring writers, he shares the best writing advice his teacher ever gave him.

Dear Writer:

Although it must be a thousand years ago that I sat in a class in story writing at Stanford, I remember the experience very clearly. I was bright-eyes and bushy-brained and prepared to absorb the secret formula for writing good short stories, even great short stories. This illusion was canceled very quickly. The only way to write a good short story, we were told, is to write a good short story. Only after it is written can it be taken apart to see how it was done. It is a most difficult form, as we were told, and the proof lies in how very few great short stories there are in the world.

The basic rule given us was simple and heartbreaking. Read More