“When
I read good stories, I want to write good stories too.” – Sharon Creech
Born in Ohio on this date in 1945,
Creech grew up outside of Cleveland but also spent a lot of time during her
formative years visiting family in Kentucky where her time there helped shape
both characters and setting for a number of her award-winning books. Among those are Walk Two Moons, winner of the Newbery Medal, and The Wanderer, a
Newbery Honor book and also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. She won the British Carnegie for her book Ruby Holler and was the first American
to win both the American Newbery Medal and the British Carnegie.
The author of two dozen books, she
first grew interested in writing while in college and then taught English and creative
writing in Switzerland and England, writing her first children’s
book while in the U.K. After
living and working abroad for nearly two decades, she returned to the U.S.in
1998 and has concentrated on her writing full time since then. Also an award-winning poet, she also has had
several books published in verse.
“I enjoy receiving and giving
realistic fiction, for both children and adults, with strong characters,
beautiful language, and humane visions,” she said. As for the range of her work, she noted, “Read a lot, live your life, and listen and
watch, so that your mind fills up with millions of images.”
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