Molly Beth Griffin, author of Ten Beautiful Things, illustrated by Maribel Lechuga
Children’s Literature Category, sponsored by Books for Africa
Each week leading up to the 34th annual Minnesota Book Awards Ceremony, we are featuring exclusive interviews with our 36 finalists. You can also watch the authors in conversation with their fellow category finalists here.
Would you tell us one or two things about your finalist book that you are particularly proud of, and why?
This book took 12 years to make, and I’m so pleased with its final form. I’m proud of the way it makes mindfulness accessible to kids, and how it conveys the beauty of its setting (rural Iowa) through language. I also love the art! But that was completely beyond my control.
What do you hope that your audience learns or takes away from your book?
I hope it inspires readers of all ages to notice beautiful things all around them, even (or especially) when the big things in our lives feel really hard or painful or challenging.
What advice would you give to an aspiring writer with an interest in your category?
Read lots of picture books! And not just your favorites from when you were a kid. Read new books, and all different kinds of books—really look at the range of what a picture book can be and can do. Then, try it out yourself. And not just once, but many times. Your first story idea will probably not be what becomes a book. If you write lots and lots of stories, they will get better and better as you get a feel for the craft of picture book writing. Seek out feedback from other writers, take classes, be willing to revise, and of course, keep reading!
Tell us something about yourself that is not widely known.
I have lots of relatives in Boulder, CO, so my family took road trips from MN to CO multiple times a year throughout my childhood. The stretch of freeway featured in Ten Beautiful Things is one that I drove countless times as a kid, usually perched in the middle of the back seat, since I was the youngest of 3 children. Then later I went to college in Iowa and found myself on that same road. I wrote this story after driving the same route (again!) on my way to see the Sandhill Crane migration in Nebraska. I thought, this place at this time of year is not beautiful, but over time I have found so much to love here. I wanted to write a book about that – learning to love a place that might at first not seem very lovable. And finding beauty wherever you are.
Minnesota enjoys a reputation as a place that values literature and reading. If this sentiment rings true for you, what about our home state makes it such a welcoming and conductive place for writers?
The writing community in MN, and particularly the kid lit community, has been a lifeline for me. I grew up here, attended the MN Institute for Talented Youth at Macalester as a teenager, where I got to work with poets like Deborah Keenan and Diego Vasquez. When I came back here after college I got involved with the Loft, interned at Milkweed Editions, and then got my MFA at Hamline. Now I teach at the Loft, work with their Mirrors & Windows program, and host a Picture Book Salon with their support. I’ve also benefited from MNSAB grants, and a McKnight Fellowship. I have been able to do this work because of the strength of these orgs and foundations here in MN, and because of the ongoing support of the incredible people I’ve been honored to share this literary space with over the years. I hope that the work I do gives back and helps foster the community for many years to come, particularly supporting folks who have not been included in the past or whose voices have not been amplified.
Since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, virtually everything about our lives has changed in some way. Has COVID-19 (and its fallout) impacted your writing habits and preferences? Has the unique zeitgeist of the past two years influenced your writing output in any other ways that you can pinpoint?
Well, yes. Ha! My kids were home with me for a solid 18 months, and have been back home on and off during this school year as well. Having them around, being in charge of their distance learning, and doing the physical, mental, and emotional work of keeping them safe and well, has made it very hard to focus on creative work. I have written some, here and there, but not a lot. Luckily, I’ve had picture books in different stages of production this whole time, so I don’t feel totally stalled out. Ten Beautiful Things launched last January, I have a book coming out this September (called The Big Leaf Leap, with MN Historical Society Press), and there are two more in process for 2023 & 2024. My teaching, critique work, and virtual event organizing has filled up most of my work time lately. I hope to get back to doing more creative work soon, but I am trying to be ok with a slower pace and lower expectations during this intensely challenging time. I’m counting things like taking photos, drawing birds, reading, and learning chords on the ukulele as creative work right now. I really believe that counting small, beautiful things will get us through this.
Molly Beth Griffin is the award-winning author of Silhouette of a Sparrow, two chapbooks of poetry, and a series for beginning readers. She has received a McKnight Artist Fellowship and teaches writing for children at The Loft.