Lois Lowry reads in Rexburg

Famous author Lois Lowry visited BYU-Idaho as the keynote speaker at the Children’s Literary Conference, which took place on Saturday, Sept. 19.

Lowis Lowry is the author of several well-known children’s books, which include The Giver and Number the Stars.

The night before the Conference, Friday, Sept. 18, she gave a reading at 8 p.m. in the Hinckley chapel. With frameless glasses atop the bridge of her nose and a water bottle in hand, she spoke about her works and the experiences that led her to become an author.

Afterwards, students were given the opportunity to approach and speak with her, or have book copies signed.

One of the earliest experiences that inspired her, she recalled, was reading The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rowlings. The story inspired her to read and to write, and began her love of stories, Lowry said.

Lowry also read from her book, Gossamer. She also talked about the experience of turning this novel into a stage play, which she said was different than she had expected.

“Writing a book is a very solitary sort of thing,” Lowry said. “I set about adapting Gossamer for the stage without really knowing how. I found that on the stage, you have the problem of showing different things.

Lowry discussed her writing style and process, describing how the ideas for her books develop. As an example, she said that the idea for The Giver came from her experience of seeing her father lose his memory.

Lowry also talked about her most recently published book, Crow Call, which is her first picture book. It is an autobiographical story about a day she spent with her father after he returned from fighting in World War II.

Lois Lowry lives in Cambridge, Mass., and has five children and four grandchildren.