Julia Taylor Ebel

Author of Books and Poetry Celebrating Nature, Heritage and Cultural History
 
School visits and community programs bring her work alive to children and adults alike.

Presentations on her books can include:

• Writing Addie Clawson, Appalachian Mail Carrier, Orville Hicks: Mountain Stories, Mountain Roots and Walking Ribbon: The process of researching, writing, editing, and illustration of books for children: Why did I write about Addie Clawson? ...about Maggie Pickett? ...about Orville Hicks? Where do we get ideas for writing? Who picks an illustrator? How many times does an author re-write?

• North Carolina History Connection: What do we learn of North Carolina history from Addie Clawson? How has the geography of the mountains affected lifestyle there? Where was Tweetsie before it was in the amusement part? What role did Tweetsie have in mail delivery? What glimpses do we get of US Postal Service history in Addie Clawson? ...in Walking Ribbon?

• Strong Females in Children’s Literature: What strengths does Addie Clawson display? What other books show strong females? What is the difference between a hero or heroine and a role model? What does Addie’s story say to us about kindness, courage and believing in ourselves?

• Getting Started with Writing: Where did the ideas for my story originate? Where can young writers look for their own story ideas?

• The Art of Letter Writing: Addie Clawson delivered letters. Why do we write letters? To whom would you like to write? What would you say?

• Keeping Stories: What stories of your own history or heritage would you like to keep? Who are the people who shaped our community?

Nature Poetry presentations can include:

  • Focusing Your Poem: Choosing a subject and point of view. Narrowing the focus to make the poem sharper and more intense
  • The Shape of a Poem: What makes a group of words a poem? Does a poem have to rhyme? What difference does the shape make? How do we decide where to break lines? What kinds of words sound appealing together?
  • Drawing from the Senses: Using all the senses when writing
  • Collaborative or Individual Poems: Writing a poem as a class or individually

Fees are negotiable, usually $300 to $500 for school visits.

Julia Taylor Ebel has taught teacher renewal classes for Guilford Technical Community College, Jamestown, NC, focusing on various aspects of juvenile literature and reading with children. She also tutors privately.