“A story is open-ended. A story invites you
into it to make your own meaning.” – Katherine Paterson
Best
known for children's novels, Paterson celebrates her 84th birthday
today. Over her lifetime she has won
two Newbery Medals and two National Book Awards. Bridge to Terabithia,
her most widely read work, was both a Newbery winner and highly
controversial at the time it was published (1977) because her youthful protagonists take on themes considered adult in nature. But, they also learn about triumphing through self-sacrifice and how to deal with death and jealousy. Although her characters often face dire situations,
Paterson writes with compassion and empathy, interlacing her writing with wry
wit and understated humor.
“The problem with people who are afraid
of imagination, 
of fantasy,” she said of her detractors, “is that their world becomes so narrow that I don't see how they can imagine beyond what their senses can verify. We know from science that there are entire worlds that our senses can't verify.”
of fantasy,” she said of her detractors, “is that their world becomes so narrow that I don't see how they can imagine beyond what their senses can verify. We know from science that there are entire worlds that our senses can't verify.”
For her career contribution to
"children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense" she won
the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council in 2006, the
biggest monetary prize in children's literature. Also for her body of work she was awarded the
NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature in 2007 and the Laura
Ingalls Wilder Medal from the American Library Association in 2013.
“Reading asks that you bring your
whole life experience and your ability to decode the written word and your
creative imagination to the page and be a co-author with the writer,” Paterson
said. “Because the story is just
squiggles on the page unless you have a reader.”
Share A Writer’s
Moment with a friend by clicking the g+1 button below.
No comments:
Post a Comment