Writing about Literary Favorites

After introducing students to the Nine Yardsticks of Value, a good way to determine how well they understand the concepts and can apply them to an independent project, is to assign this author project.

Each year, I’d choose to read one of the Nobel Laureates who was new to me, usually one the students had not chosen. Here’s a link to the PowerPoint Presentation I created the year my author was Imre Kertész, Hungarian who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2002.  Here’s link to handout for students: AUTHOR PROJECT : Nobel Literature Laureates

You’ll find this assignment can be adapted to any constraints that fit your course. Some attending my workshops have suggested these prize categories for Younger Students:

Caldecott,  awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

Newbery, awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children

Some may find it interesting to limit the authors to those who have won prize from your country or state.  Consider the awards given in the United States  or the The Micro Award recognises the best short story under 1,000 words published in English during the previous calendar year.

For Others Awards for Writing in English

• * Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for English-language women playwrights
• * Lionel Gelber Prize for English-language works that advance debate on significant global issues.
•  international cross-disciplinary prize awarded biennially for an excellent and substantial piece of writing in the English language, in any genre or form, on a theme that will change with every award
• * Truman Capote Award for literary criticism in the English language, administered for the Capote Estate by the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
•  Man Booker is awarded biennially for the best biography written by a British author and first published in the UK during the two preceding years.
• * The Marsh Children’s Literature in Translation Award recognizes the best translation of a children’s book from a foreign language into English and published in the UK it was designed to spotlight the high quality and diversity of translated fiction for young readers.