Woodland Hills High School was thrilled to welcome author Jolene McIlwain as the latest guest for the Woodland Hills Interaction Series at the Woodland Hills High School Library.
Ms. McIlwain is a Western Pennsylvania native whose work reflects the communities she grew up in and continues to live in as a writer. Her short story collection "Sidle Creek" was named a Best Book of the Year pick by NPR and Library Journal, and she has been nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize.
Her writing has appeared in a number of literary journals and she has taught literary theory at Duquesne and Chatham Universities.
Students from Mr. Maloney's and Ms. Curtin's English 11 classes recently read and analyzed her work. They asked questions about her writing process, including how she decided certain paths her characters should follow. Ms. McIlwain shared her journey as an author, including the amount of rejected submissions she had to overcome before securing an agent. She also expanded on recurring themes in her stories, including the importance of inserting elements of hope to balance out darkness.
The audience also included local librarians from throughout the county who observed how the Interaction Series impacts student learning. Ms. McIlwain graciously stayed after her talk with the students to speak with them one-on-one and sign copies of her book.