speaking
Speaking

Your workshop was the best one I attended that weekend [at the NCW conference]. I will never forget your example with your excerpt from your book about the old woman and the way her hut looked. You are amazing and have inspired me beyond words.

-Pat Walker

I love giving presentations and workshops at conferences for educators, librarians, and writers, and I've consistently received great feedback. I can focus on a variety of topics, including aspects of the craft of creative writing; revision strategies; my journey to publication; my books and inspiration; my writing process, trials, and tribulations; my experiences in rural Oaxaca; and other topics upon request. My presentations and workshops can be geared toward an audience of adults, teens, children, or mixed. Each session usually lasts about one hour unless otherwise noted. Please contact me at Lresau@hotmail.com to discuss details and fees. (Use the subject heading SPEAKING INVITATION.)

Sample Workshops/ Presentations for Educators

Fun Ways to Use Laura Resau's Books in the Classroom

Author Laura Resau will share ideas for using her award-winning books Red Glass (grades 7 to 12) and What the Moon Saw (grades 5 to 9) in the classroom. She will discuss fun, creative ways to improve students' reading and writing skills, while exploring themes such as immigration, indigenous issues, cultural heritage, and family relationships. Drawn from her experience as an ESL teacher, these dynamic activities can be used with other multi-cultural books as well.

Inside Red Glass: Inspiration and reflection

Author Laura Resau will speak about the inspiration for her award-winning young adult novel Red Glass. In writing this book, she drew on her experiences as a teacher and anthropologist in rural Oaxaca, her travels in Central America, and her friendships with immigrants and refugees in Arizona and Colorado. During her presentation, you'll see photos of people and places who inspired the characters and settings of Red Glass, and hear personal stories about issues faced by immigrants, refugees, and indigenous people.

Sample Workshops/ Presentations for Writers

Writing Red Glass (Presentation)

Author Laura Resau will speak about the inspiration for her award-winning young adult novel Red Glass. In writing this book, she drew on her experiences as a teacher and anthropologist in rural Oaxaca, her travels in Central America, and her friendships with immigrants and refugees in Arizona and Colorado. She will also discuss her writing journey, her bumpy path to publication, and the process of crafting Red Glass.

Creating Vivid Worlds (Workshop)

Isn't it a delicious feeling to delve into a book and enter another world? Laura Resau will explore ways to offer your readers (and editors!) this joy. She'll share strategies for enriching setting and character through imagery and description. You'll do short, fun writing exercises to help make your story a vivid, multi-sensory experience that readers can't resist. This workshop will let your writing shine, whether your focus is fiction or creative non-fiction, for adult or teen readers.

Creating Characters that Leap Off the Page (Workshop)

Making your readers (and potential editors!) fall in love with your characters is essential to a successful story. Laura Resau will share ways to create vivid, three-dimensional characters who stay with your readers long after the last page. She will lead you through short writing exercises designed to let your characters deepen and shine.

Let Your Story Soar: Young Adult Fiction Workshop (Half-day workshop)

Award-winning author Laura Resau will lead you through the journey of writing a YA novel, from lifting off to flying over clouds. You’ll learn how to turn ideas into stories, create vivid worlds, develop strong voices, construct engaging plots, build powerful emotional arcs, and do effective revisions. Bring a pen and paper, and feel yourself sprout wings during fun exercises designed to make your characters and setting come alive.

Sculpting a Memoir (Workshop)

You have the raw materials—memories of people, places, and experiences. Now how do you put them together and chisel them into a riveting piece of literature? Laura Resau will discuss ways to structure your story, create intriguing scenes, flesh out characters, build suspense, and weave in essential themes. Be ready to do fun writing exercises to bring your memoir to life. Whether your memoir is five pages or five hundred pages long, this workshop will give you a basic tool set for writing a fascinating life story.