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I am a 10 or 12 year-old at heart. I adore children; for more than 30 years, writing for them has been my
pleasure. Young people seem to respond to many kinds of books, from poetry books to novels, on every subject imaginable. When reading about parallel cultures and traditions other than
their own, they see clearly how all cultures belong in the weave that is the fabric of multi-culturalism. They can usually find books with characters who look like them or sound like them, no
matter who "them" might be. It's true that part of the reading experience for them is relating themselves to the words and pictures, characterization and story in books. They don't always have
to "see" themselves when they read, but it's a nice surprise for them when they can say, "That child is just like me!"
I hope that the books I write will entertain young people and give them insights about our diverse cultures. Story writing for me
is a way to share in community. I see community as defining a gathering of individuals with similar desires and concerns. I use family and telling story to delineate the boundaries of my
personal and ancestral history. My fictions and most of my non-fiction writing have some basis in the realities of a large or small experience, although they are only peripherally
autobiographical. But the fact that my grandfather Levi was a fugitive from the Civil War south gave me the impetus to research centuries of plantation era history and folklore. I then recast
certain historical and folk narrative into contemporary collections of stories and tales for the young.
Sitting around in a group with a teacher, or family member, telling stories, is a familiar image. I told stories to my own children
that way—true and half-true household tales, family and generational stories. They heard tales from their grandmother, also, Granny Etta Belle, my mother.
Making up stories has been rather easy for someone like myself. I heard "tells" every day of my life from parents and
relatives. All of my work, as a novelist, biographer and as creator and compiler of stories, helps to portray the essence of a people who are a parallel culture community in America. And it is
hoped that these portrayals will illuminate the universality among peoples.
I write for young people because they are our treasure. Books for them are their pieces of eight. •
Background Information
Education—USA:
Antioch College, Ohio—Majored in Writing
The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, Literature Major
The New School for Social Research, New York, NY. Studies in Writing the Novel
Publication:
First published work of youth literature: Zeely, Macmillan (now Simon & Schuster), 1967
First African American to win the coveted John Newbery Medal for "the most distinguished contribution to literature for children," for M.C. Higgins, the Great, Macmillan (now Simon & Schuster), 1974
Awarded the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1992, "For her body of work," accepted in Berlin at the Conference of the
IBBY (International Board of Books for Children).
First and only author of youth literature to receive a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship, 1995.
Awarded the Coretta Scott King Award three times: for The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales; Sweet Whispers; Brother Rush; and A Little Love
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About the Author:
Virginia Hamilton was born and raised in Yellow Springs, Ohio, on a 10-acre truck farm, the youngest of five
children. Her parents are Etta Perry Hamilton and Kenneth James Hamilton. She is the author of 38 works of fiction and non-fiction youth literature, including folk collections,
picture books, biography and 20 novels.
Bluish (Blue Sky Press)
The People Could Fly (Knopf)
The Girl Who Spun Gold (Blue Sky Press)
Visit the Virginia Hamilton Website.
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