This workshop looked at how you can turn your life into fiction. After examining examples from various writers, participants discussed how to select material from their own lives, did some short writing exercises and had the opportunity to read their work and receive comments. Participants came fully prepared to talk about an unusual moment in their life.

Writing for young adults is a genre of its own, prompting the challenges one might expect in creating enjoyable, age-appropriate, but trenchant works of fiction for those of not-quite adult status, who in many ways are wiser than their parents. In the first hour, authors Keren David, Hilary Freeman and Miriam Halahmy will discuss how they meet these challenges. In the second, you will have the chance to pitch your idea for a children’...