John Boyne

Secondary 1 English students were thrilled to meet Irish author John Boyne on May 17, 2010 at the JPL.  This exciting event, organized by the Jewish Public Library on the initiative of Bialik English teacher Sharon Eliahoo and librarian Marsha Lustigman, was attended by students from several other Jewish schools, as well as members of the Montreal reading public.  The author spoke with great humour and enthusiasm about the genesis of this award-winning novel, and about the research it takes to develop ideas into books.  He spoke about his passion for literature as a boy,  and the importance of reading to his development as a writer.  Bialik students Samantha Mashaal and Danna Weizmann together thanked John Boyne and read some of their own creative works based on 'The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas'.

Jordanna Fraiberg

Jordanna Fraiberg graduated Bialik in 1989 and went on to become a screenwriter and novelist in LA.  Jordanna's first book for young adults, 'In Your Room' was published in 2008 and she visited Bialik in December to talk about writing and her latest work.  Check out her website at: www.jordannafraiberg.com

Sarah Mlynowski

Sarah Mlynowski, a Bialik graduate, gave a writing workshop to a group of aspiring young authors in the Library on September 4th, 2006. Sarah is a prolific writer of 'chick lit' for adults and young adults (Bras & Broomsticks, Frogs & French Kisses) who lives in New York City. She took our students through the process of developing a story from idea to production, inspiring many to write, write, write!

You can find out more about Sarah Mlynowski and her books at her website:
http://www.sarahmlynowski.com

Alan Silberberg

Alan Silberberg, a television writer (Student Bodies), cartoonist, and novelist (Pond Scum) visited Marcy Stein's Sec.1 class on November 27. He told students about his career as a professional writer, and how he gets ideas for his stories. Alan also described a day in the life of a writer, and the discipline it takes to produce pages for a novel. He provided samples from his original manuscripts to show students how much had been corrected and revised over the 3 or 4 years it takes from idea to publishing. The class also learned about the production of book covers and the sales and marketing ideas behind what we see on the bookstore shelves.

You can read more about Alan Silberberg on his website at: http://www.silberbooks.com/