Award-winning author Walter Dean Myers
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Author Walter Dean Myers has written more than 90 books and has won the Newbery Honor Award twice and the Coretta Scott King Award five times.
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Award-winning author Walter Dean Myers
I had the pleasure of interviewing Walter Dean Myers, an author who has won the Newbery Award twice and the Coretta Scott King Award five times.
His books include "Autobiography of My Dead Brother," "Monster" and his newest release, "Dope Sick."
Q: For someone who doesn't know your work, what would you tell them about you and your writing?
A: Well, I've done over 90 books and most of the ideas [for the books] come from my own past. I was raised in Harlem and my books are primarily based in Harlem. They come from whatever sports I played.
Q: What do you think makes your books unique?
A: There are not many books about city youth, especially by men, and not many written from a sympathetic point of view. I have a sympathetic point of view because of my past.
Q: How did your first book come about?
A: I was writing for magazines and newspapers. Then, I saw a contest for a children's book and so I said "Oh, I'll try that, too." And I won the contest. I got a contract for my book and I thought "This is easy." And I did three more books, which were rejected.
After that, I did one book that was accepted and two more that were rejected and another one that was accepted. I was going along a bumpy road.
Q: How did you choose a career as a writer?
A:[Writing] was a hobby. I didn't even know that there was a job called "writer."
When you were taught about writers in school no one ever said, "Oh, Shakespeare made a lot of money on this play." No one ever talked about how much money did he make or did he have a contract. They always just said, "He's a genius." So, I thought when I was a kid people just wrote books because they were geniuses.
When I first started writing I didn't care if I made money. I just wanted to get published. It was later I figured out I could make money.
Q: What is the best part of being a writer?
A: The idea that I'm only working on something that interests me. So many people can't really do that.
Q: Do you have a work routine?
A: I do a lot of pre-writing in notebooks. Every day I get up and write five pages. That takes about two hours.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Right now, I'm doing a book about the social contract in a city setting, which it sort of different. That should be out in 2010.
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
A: I think you should treat writing as a craft that you can learn and you will get it with time.
Mr. Myers will appear at Carnegie Library Lecture Hall in Oakland at 10:30 a.m. Saturday as part of the Black White and Read All Over series. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for children and can be ordered online at www.pittsburghlectures.org, by calling 412-622-8866 or at the door. The entrance to the lecture hall is on Schenley Drive.
For more information on Mr. Myers, visit his Web site at walterdeanmyers.net.
First Published March 3, 2009 12:00 am
