2016 Cavalcade of Authors

Jeff Bailey and Michelle Lane

 

 

I participated in a regional readers/writers event for young people this last week. It’s called the Cavalcade of Authors. ‘Cavalcade’ doesn’t begin to describe the scope of the event. The organizers brought twenty-seven nationally recognized authors of books for young adults to our local junior college. The Columbia Basin Junior College in Pasco, Washington and the event organizers provided a classroom or lecture hall to each author. Each guest author gave several lectures and workshops for the students in the course of the day.

Twelve hundred students from Washington and Oregon attended. Each student had to complete a reading series of books by the guest authors. Said another way, each student had to work for the privilege of attending the cavalcade. The organizers reserved a few minutes at the end of session for autographs, book signing, and photos ops. A large group-signing event closed out the day.

Jeff Bailey

Fifty members of the local chapter of the National Honors Society also volunteered for the day to help keep the ‘flow’ pf the event going smoothly. They led groups from one place to another, gave directions, and rescued lost attendees. I want to give a special salute to those members of the National Honors Society who gave their day to help keep the huge event well regulated.

I quote Michell Lane, the creator of the Cavalcade of Authors, "The Cavalcade of Authors is dedicated to providing the secondary students of our region access to some of the best Young Adult authors of our modern era. Our special interest is to celebrate Pacific Northwest Authors while introducing students to a variety of genres and subject matter and to furthermore, promote reading and writing within our community. We provide for our participants an authentic writing conference experience where students can learn from the ultimate mentors: the authors of the books they are reading"

Group book signing

The event reminded me of the National Science Fair. I was a scientist/judge for the science fair for years. I was always amazed at the quality of the young people that I had to honor to meet and evaluate. I look forward to meeting the best of our regions emerging writers and the cadre of successful author mentors again next year.

Every day I try to concentrate my efforts on the single most productive task on my daily to-do list. For the three days of the Cavalcade of Authors, the cavalcade is the single most important and rewarding activity that I can imagine.

One of 27 lecture halls