YA Authors in Conversation about Craft

Lucy F. Demarco Program

Ever considered writing a YA novel? Join three celebrated special guest YA authors for a panel event and conversation on writing craft specific to a young adult audience. Featuring #1 New York Times bestselling author and Penn alumna Chloe Gong, National Book Award finalist Candice Iloh, and award-winning author of more than a dozen books for kids and teens Anica Mrose Rissi, hosted by Penn faculty Nova Ren Suma. Open to the Penn community and to the public. Book signing to follow.

CHLOE GONG is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and its sequel Our Violent Ends. She is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she double-majored in English and International Relations. Born in Shanghai and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Chloe is now located in New York pretending to be a real adult.

CANDICE ILOH is a first generation Nigerian-American writer, dancer, and author of the 2020 National Book Award finalist and 2021 Printz Honoree, Every Body Looking. They have performed their work around the country, most notably at Nuyorican Poets Café in New York City; the Women in Poetry & Hip Hop celebration at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore; and as part of the Africa In Motion performing arts series at the National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. Competitively, Iloh has advanced to the final rounds of the Graffiti DC Slam, Beltway Poetry Slam, and 11th Hour Poetry Slam. Candice is currently writing their third novel, Salt the Water, while touring their second, Break This House (Out May 24, 2022). They live and work in Philadelphia with their cats Maxinne and Charlie.

ANICA MROSE RISSI is the award-winning author of more than a dozen books for kids and teens, including the Anna, Banana chapter book series; the middle grade collection Hide and Don’t Seek: And Other Very Scary Stories; the picture book Love, Sophia on the Moon; and the young adult novel Nobody Knows But You. Her next book, Wishing Season, a middle grade novel set on the Maine island where she grew up, comes out in June 2023 and is available for preorder now. Anica’s essays have been published by The Writer and the New York Times, and she plays fiddle in and writes lyrics for the band Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves. She currently lives near Princeton, New Jersey, with her very good dog, Sweet Potato.

NOVA REN SUMA is the author of A Room Away from the Wolves and the #1 New York Times bestselling The Walls Around Us, both finalists for an Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel. She also wrote the novels Imaginary Girls, 17 & Gone, and Dani Noir and is co-editor of the story & writing craft anthology FORESHADOW: Stories to Celebrate the Magic of Reading & Writing YA. She has an MFA in fiction from Columbia University and has taught creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania and Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives in Philadelphia.