February 5, 2021

Dear Young Authors’ Faire,

Do you remember me? It’s been such a long time. Decades, in fact. I’m not sure you’d recognize me if you could see me now. But I do hope I have made you proud. In elementary school, you challenged me to write a story, to be a Young Author. Well, now I’m a Not-So-Young Author, and I’ve written many stories. Some of them are published, some will be published, and some I wrote just for the joy of writing them, like the ones I wrote for you.

It seems cheesy to credit adult success to something from our childhoods. Many have looked at me funny when I told them it was your program that first inspired me to write stories. But it’s true. School taught me to write; the Young Authors’ Faire taught me to love it.

I will always remember the kindness of my teacher that first year of the program. It was second grade—my first opportunity to participate. I was so excited. I already loved reading, and the prospect of creating my own story was exhilarating.

But then it suddenly became overwhelming. While all the other children were well into their projects, I was behind on the deadlines, no story idea in sight, and facing down missing the due date altogether and not getting my story read in front of the class, not receiving the participation certificate.

Not being an author.

I remember looking at the picture books in the classroom and wondering why I couldn’t create a story as amazing as those. How could I want something so much but be unable to do it?

Then my teacher, aware that I was falling behind, took me aside. “Why aren’t you writing?”

“I don’t have any ideas,” I said. She pointed to the picture books in front of me.

“Which is your favorite?” I pointed to one. “Why don’t you write another story for those characters. Express your love for that story with your story, and maybe next year you can create a story that is all your own.”

And I did. I wrote a new adventure for some beloved characters I already knew. There is a term for this kind of creative expression, though I certainly didn’t know it at the time: fanfiction. My very first story I ever wrote was a fanfic. The flexibility of the Young Authors’ Faire enabled me to dip my toes into the art of writing, which then gave me the confidence to dive in fully with my own story the next year, and the year after that, and the rest of my life.

There have been many inspirations for my writing over the years, many people and places and books and programs that have driven me to become the author I am. But the Young Authors’ Faire is the first that put the pencil in my hand, directed it to the page, and told me to have fun. You were the first to call me an author.

The stories I wrote for you will always be the first.

I love you,

Jenna

Jenna Glover’s submission to the second grade Young Authors’ Faire.