We are so excited to announce that Almost Authors 2024 registration opens April 17th!
Almost Authors is a writing craft camp series for young writers (9 -14ish) where they are able to learn from the authors whose books they read and love. Every session is free but registration is required. The camps will be held at either Teton County Library or St. John’s Episcopal Church in Hansen Hall and locations are specified on the registration form.
Jackson Hole Writers and our partners provide materials, lunch and snacks and the opportunity to purchase books by the author-mentors. Tickets are required and will be emailed a week prior to the event. Maximum of 30 attendees. See the schedule and our guest authors below.
Registration is open now! These are FREE events for kids ages 9-ish and up and include lunch, but you must present your ticket upon arrival. Tickets will be emailed to you a week before the event. We provide snacks and lunch and will have journals and writing supplies on hand. Please email Nanci Turner Steveson for further information at ponywriter7@gmail.com.
2024 Almost Authors Schedule
Sophia Boyd-Fliegel
Saturday, May 11th
10:00am to 2:00pm
Teton County Library
Sophia Boyd-Fliegel, reporter for the Jackson Hole News and Guide, leads a deep dive into the writing life of a working journalist.
Sophia Boyd-Fliegel has degrees in English and human biology from Stanford University. She started reporting for the Jackson Hole News&Guide in 2021.
Traci L. Jones
Wednesday, June 26th
10am to 2:30pm
St. John’s Episcopal Church
Born in Monmouth, Illinois to Ada Groff and the late Senator Regis Groff, Traci is an award-winning author of fiction for teens. Her debut novel, Standing Against the Wind, won the 2007 Coretta Scott King – John Steptoe New Talent Award. Traci is a mentor/instructor with the Masters in Fine Arts – Creative Writing Program at Regis University in Denver, Colorado and also teaches writing at Lighthouse Writing Workshop, and literature for the honors program at University of Colorado in Denver.
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Wednesday, August 14th
10am to 2:30pm
St. John’s Episcopal Church
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley is the two-time Newbery Honor winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author of several acclaimed middle grade novels, including Fighting Words, The War That Saved My Life, The War I Finally Won, and Jefferson’s Sons. She and her husband have two grown children and live with their dog, several ponies, a highly opinionated mare, and a surplus of cats on a fifty-two acre farm in Bristol, Tennessee.
Rebecca Balcárcel & Nanci Turner Steveson
Saturday and Sunday, September 14th and 15th
10am to 4pm on Saturday, 1-5pm on Sunday
Teton County Library
This is a unique and special opportunity for aspiring young writers to learn about what it takes to become a published author. All aspects of the writing and publishing process are covered in a fun and celebratory environment.
A Guatemalan-Anglo American, Rebecca Balcárcel is the award-winning author of Shine On, Luz Véliz! and The Other Half of Happy, as well as a contributor to Highlights magazine and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters. Rebecca loves popcorn, her kitty, and teaching her students as Associate Professor of English at Tarrant County College. Look for Rebecca’s short story in Boundless, an anthology by multi-racial/multi-cultural authors, which she also co-edited. Find Rebecca on YouTube as the SixMinuteScholar.
Nanci Turner Steveson is the author of four middle grade novels published by HarperCollins/Quill Tree which have achieved starred reviews, state awards, foreign translations, and have been on several Best Children’s Book lists. Her fourth novel, Midnight at the Shelter, is told through the point of view of a dog and was published in November of 2022. Nanci was awarded a Hawthornden Literary Fellowship for 2023 to work on her first novel for adult readers, Silent Nights, set in her home state of Wyoming. She is also writing her first picture book and a young adult novel in verse. Nanci is a life-long horse girl and dog lover and spends free time riding her horse in the Tetons with her rescue dog, Sufi, by her side. nanciturnersteveson.com