Children's author speaks to UM-Flint audience

Christopher Paul Curtis, children's author and recipient of three Newbery Awards and the Coretta Scott King Award for children's literature, spoke to an audience of about 150 people Dec. 2 at the UM-Flint.

Curtis received the Myron and Margaret Winegarden Visiting Professor Endowment from the university and has been making the rounds of his hometown encouraging future authors.

He read excerpts from his popular children's novels, The Watson's Go to Birmingham -1963, Bud not Buddy and his work-in-process, Deza Malone.

All of his books are written in an historical framework and several of them refer to Flint and the surrounding areas.

An attendee asked Curtis what motivates him to keep writing.

"The joy of writing," he replied. "I write because I love my job as a writer - not because I'm a published author. When you love what you do it shows in your work. I write continually. As a writer, you are one of the most powerful people in the world. Fiction writers can slow things down or speed things up. They're in control," Curtis said.

Another asked if he carries a journal.

"Great ideas," he said, "come to me in the shower or when I'm driving. I always keep a journal close by and never throw anything away. I wrote during my breaks when I worked at the Fisher Body factory in Flint. I continue writing to keep readers turning the pages."

Curtis explained that his Newbery Gold Medal winner, Bud not Buddy, written from a 10-year-old's perspective during the Great Depression, has been made into a stage play which will be performed in Flint sometime this spring.

Asked for advice on how to get published, he explained how he entered writing contests. Although he didn't win, his entry was picked up by a major publishing house and subsequently won the Newbery Gold Medal award.

"Patience is important," he said. "Nine times out of 10 and 99 times out of 100 your submissions will be denied."

He said self-publishing wasn't an option for him because it is expensive and because there is a bias against self-publishers.

Curtis said he writes in public places like the Detroit Public Library, does research at the University of Windsor Library and edits his work on long train rides.

His favorite authors include Tony Morrison and Mark Twain. Twain, he said, has control of the language.

"After 150 years Twain's humor still has me rolling in laughter," he said.