Speakers at Hollins

We have the most amazing speakers come to our MFA in Writing and Illustrating program at Hollins University each year. This year we have National Book Award Finalist and Newbery Honor Book Award-winner Kathi Appelt as Writer in Residence for two lovely weeks. She's been helping all our students with one-on-one meetings and sharing her insights on morning walks. We feel very lucky to have her.
     And then Frances Gilbert, author and editorial director in children’s publishing at Random House, came down to help our Professor author of over 150 books, Candice Ransom celebrate the release of their new book, Amanda Panda. Here's Frances with the student who introduced her, Candice and the Director of our program, Amanda Cockrell. Frances and Candice talked about how the book came to be based on the sketches by Christine Grove. It's always nice when our guests become cheerleaders for each other. Here's Kathi with Amanda Panda. We're a lucky bunch!