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Young Authors' Conference Set for March 7
10/22/2006
By:
cumbu
Kevin Hawkes
This year's conference marks the ninth for the Wilson County and Lebanon school systems. Each year, more than 300 students from grades one through six are chosen to attend the Young Authors' Conference at Cumberland.
The selections are made at the local schools and are based on the creativity and effort put into each student's work. The selected young authors are then invited to attend the conference at Cumberland University, where they will share their works and hear from a noteworthy figure in children's literature.
This year's keynote speaker is Kevin Hawkes. An illustrator of more than 35 celebrated books - including The Librarian Who Measured the Earth and My Little Sister Ate One Hare - Hawkes was inspired by the changing childhood landmarks of his military family and by the encouragement of his second-grade art teacher.
"My mother and father loved books. Mom was always reading bedtime stories, and Dad entertained us ... with stories of dragons and giants," Hawkes recalled.
The Young Authors' Conference is sponsored by CBRL Group, the Lebanon/Wilson County Chamber of Commerce and Cumberland University.