INTERVIEW WITH KATE DICAMILLO

Kate DiCamillo’s writing journey has been a truly remarkable one. She grew up in Florida and moved to Minnesota in her twenties, when homesickness and a bitter winter led her to write Because of Winn-Dixie—her first published novel, which became a runaway bestseller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. Since then, she has been a National Book Award finalist, won two Newbery Medals and was named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. She now has almost 30 million books in print worldwide.

In this interview, we dig into Kate’s newest book Beverly, Right Here and talk about characterization through dialogue, including:

• Do you think about showing v. telling while you’re writing, or do you naturally fall into it?
• What do you find most challenging about writing dialogue?
• Has your dialogue changed in your protagonists over the years?
• Is it hard to switch between writing dialogue for kids, teens, and adults?