Season 6 Episode 24: Polly Horvath talks about developing characters for her middle grade novels

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, Polly Horvath talks about her book Pine Island Visitors. Pine Island Visitors was a finalist for the 2024 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. In her conversation with host Megan Cole, Polly talks about relying on her voice as an author. She also talks about why she writes novels for young readers and how she develops her characters. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: bcyukonbookprizes.com/ About Pine Island Visitors: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/pine-island-visitors/ ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Polly Horvath is the author of many books for young people, including The Night Garden, Everything on a Waffle, The Pepins and Their Problems, The Canning Season and The Trolls. Her numerous awards include the Newbery Honor, the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor and the Vicky Metcalf Award for Children’s Literature. She has also been shortlisted for The Deutscher Jugenliteraturpreis, Germany’s most prestigious literature award. Horvath grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She lives in Metchosin, British Columbia. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.