School Visits and Appearences
One of my favorite things about being an author is connecting with young readers and writers! I offer presentations, writing workshops, and keynote speeches for schools, libraries, bookstores, and other venues. My author presentations often focus on a particular book (The Night Diary for example) and how to use our lives to create stories, how to write about identity and family history, how to use food in fiction, my writing process, and my path to getting published. I also enjoy leading smaller interactive writing workshops for both children and adults. My school presentations and workshops are usually 45 minutes. A full day school visit includes three presentations. I also do virtual visits on many platforms such as Zoom, Skype, or Google Meet. A limited number of free 20-minute Q&A virtual visits are available.
Due to concerns about COVID-19, I'm only doing virtual school visits and appearances for 2020. Please send me a message on my contact page to plan a virtual school visit or event!
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Testimonials:
"Veera Hiranandani captivated our students with her presentation of The Night Diary. Her presentation was a beautiful tapestry, weaving her life as a writer with the history of the partition of India, bound with a message of hope. She also came to our school to speak to our Kindergarten through third grade on her humorous series, Phoebe G. Green. Students learned about her life as a writer as well as about the characters and themes in the books. Our students had many questions, and Veera patiently answered them all. I highly recommend her."
-Carolyn Denny, Librarian and Literacy Coach, The Keystone School, San Antonio, TX
"Veera’s workshop on The Night Diary was engaging and educational. She transformed a period of Indian history, often wrought with conflict yet instrumental in defining the country’s identity, into one of hope and promise. Children made deep connections with her as an author, her story of India’s partition, and issues faced by today's refugees. She was an articulate panelist on why all good stories have global appeal and on the fine balance between presenting conflict in a way that is truthful without being traumatic. It was a privilege to have her join us at the Neev Literature Festival in Bangalore, India and we look forward to continuing a partnership with her."
-Kavita Gupta Sabharwal, Co-Founder, Neev Literature Festival/Head, Neev Academy,
Bangalore, India
"Veera was our guest for our annual author week and book pop-up. In the course of the day she worked with multiple 7th and 8th grade classes with innovative writing workshops that prompted them to dig into their own memories and reflect in writing. Her thoughtful, attentive manner was a great match for our classes and she reached some of our more reluctant writers and readers. We were also lucky to have her speak to our entire middle school community, a discussion that was especially impactful on our sixth graders having recently completed an immigration unit. Teachers and students alike were thrilled with having her on campus for the day and I wholeheartedly recommend her for both small group sessions as well as large presentations."
-Erinn Salge, Head Librarian and History faculty, Morristown-Beard School, Morristown, NJ
Due to concerns about COVID-19, I'm only doing virtual school visits and appearances for 2020. Please send me a message on my contact page to plan a virtual school visit or event!
_____________________________________________________
Testimonials:
"Veera Hiranandani captivated our students with her presentation of The Night Diary. Her presentation was a beautiful tapestry, weaving her life as a writer with the history of the partition of India, bound with a message of hope. She also came to our school to speak to our Kindergarten through third grade on her humorous series, Phoebe G. Green. Students learned about her life as a writer as well as about the characters and themes in the books. Our students had many questions, and Veera patiently answered them all. I highly recommend her."
-Carolyn Denny, Librarian and Literacy Coach, The Keystone School, San Antonio, TX
"Veera’s workshop on The Night Diary was engaging and educational. She transformed a period of Indian history, often wrought with conflict yet instrumental in defining the country’s identity, into one of hope and promise. Children made deep connections with her as an author, her story of India’s partition, and issues faced by today's refugees. She was an articulate panelist on why all good stories have global appeal and on the fine balance between presenting conflict in a way that is truthful without being traumatic. It was a privilege to have her join us at the Neev Literature Festival in Bangalore, India and we look forward to continuing a partnership with her."
-Kavita Gupta Sabharwal, Co-Founder, Neev Literature Festival/Head, Neev Academy,
Bangalore, India
"Veera was our guest for our annual author week and book pop-up. In the course of the day she worked with multiple 7th and 8th grade classes with innovative writing workshops that prompted them to dig into their own memories and reflect in writing. Her thoughtful, attentive manner was a great match for our classes and she reached some of our more reluctant writers and readers. We were also lucky to have her speak to our entire middle school community, a discussion that was especially impactful on our sixth graders having recently completed an immigration unit. Teachers and students alike were thrilled with having her on campus for the day and I wholeheartedly recommend her for both small group sessions as well as large presentations."
-Erinn Salge, Head Librarian and History faculty, Morristown-Beard School, Morristown, NJ
PAST 2019 PUBLIC APPEARANCES
February 1
World Read Aloud Day Event with LitWorld
The Strand, 1-3pm
New York, NY
February 10
RiverArts Author Conversation
with Sheela Chari and Sayantani DasGupta, moderated by Jimin Han.
Dobbs Ferry Library, 2pm
Dobbs Ferry, NY
www.riverarts.org
March 3
Keynote Speaker
Scholastic Art and Writing Awards
Manhattanville College, 2pm-4pm
March 29
2019 Walter Awards Symposium and Ceremony
The Library of Congress
Private Event/Live Webcast
May 2
Published Faculty Reading
6:30pm, The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College
45 Wrexam Road, Bronxville NY
Register Here
May 4
Hudson Children's Book Festival
10am-3pm, Hudson, NY
www.hudsonchildrensbookfestival.com
May 18
Author Presentation
Indian Cultural Center
Cole Auditorium, Greenwich Library, 1pm
Greenwich, CT
www.iccgreenwich.com
June 21-23
2019 ALA Annual Conference
Washington, D.C.
www.ala.org
September 20-21
The Neev Literature Festival
Bangalore, India
www.neevliteraturefestival.org
October 5
Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival
Robert E. Bell Middle School, 10am-4pm
Chappaqua, NY
www.ccbfestival.org
October 12-13
International Literacy Association Conference
New Orleans, LA
www.literacyworldwide.org
October 19
The Indo-American Arts Council Literary Festival
In Conversation with Editor and Publisher, Namrata Tripathi, 11am
New York, NY
IAAC Festival Link
November 9
WNY Children's Book Expo, 10am-3pm
Buffalo, NY
wnycbe.com
November 16
The 2019 Madeleine L'Engle Conference--Walking on Water
New York, NY
writingforyourlife.com
November 21-23
2019 NCTE Annual Convention
Baltimore, MD
NCTE Convention Link
December 7
Galapagos Books Holiday Book Signing
James V. Harmon Community Center, 1-5pm
Hastings on Hudson, NY
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