Katherine Paterson’s moving keynote address at Walking on Water: The Madeleine L’Engle Conference
Dear Ones,
Katherine Paterson gave a moving keynote address at the November 2019 Walking on Water conference. She talked about her writing process, what it means to have readers, and Birdie, the protagonist of her latest novel, still awaiting publisher’s edits. She moved the audience (and herself) to tears, and reminded us, as Madeleine said, that “in art we are once again able to do all the things we have forgotten; we are able to walk on water; we speak to the angels who call us; we move, unfettered, among the stars.” Listen and watch her speech, and Sarah Arthur’s introduction, and be moved.
–cjv
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Charlotte Jones Voiklis is Madeleine L’Engle’s granddaughter and executor of her estate. She is a lead producer of the musical adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time. She is also the co-author with Jennifer Adams of A Book, Too, Can Be a Star (October 2022), a picture book biography illustrated by Adelina Lirius; and, with her sister, Léna Roy, of Becoming Madeleine (2018), a biography for middle grade readers.
She wrote the afterword to the 50th Anniversary edition of A Wrinkle in Time, and the introduction to The Moment of Tenderness (2020), a collection of short stories. Charlotte has also written and spoken extensively about her grandmother’s work to a variety of audiences.
With a PhD in Comparative Literature, Charlotte’s professional experience spans teaching, fundraising, communications, and grant making. She has also volunteered as a mediator in the New York City court system, and coached police officers on mediation skills. Charlotte lives in New York and Connecticut with her husband and has two grown children.