Here are some of the lectures and workshops I have given in the past, which I am available to present.
               • Presentations are adapted to the age range and knowledge/experience level of the audience.
               • I am also happy to adapt content to tie in with your group's specific needs and interests.
               • I am available for zoom presentations!
      If you are interested or have questions about what I can do, please contact me to discuss possibilities.

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For all ages, kingergarten through adult:
​Artist and/or Author Visits
     I can give readings from any of my books, present slide shows of my work and process, and do live art demonstrations.

Art and writing for preschool or elementary students:
How the Animals Get into the Book
Reading from animal alphabet book Amazing, Beguiling, Curious, and explaining the process of writing and illustrating a book.  Optional: leading children in a relief printing art activity.
​Curriculum tie-in to animal research as well as art.

Writing for elementary students (esp. grades 3-5):
Fiction-Writing Workshop,
or focus on a more specific topic such as 
Writing Characters
I can tailor presentations to large or small groups.
Working with single classrooms at a time allows for 
more interactive activities, while presenting to multiple classes at once may fit better into school schedules.

Writing for middle school students:
I can give presentations on more focused writing 
topics including Voice & Style, 
and Where Do You Get Ideas?
I have also taught Poetry-Writing, focusing on coaching children to brainstorm, dabble in different styles, and get more comfortable playing with language for the purpose of sharing the emotions and insights that poetry makes possible.

​Linguistics for middle school through adult:
Shakespeare's Language: 
A Most Fantastical Banquet of Words
What's different and special about Shakespeare's  Elizabethan English, why it is the way it is (and so  different from our own language), and tips and tricks for understanding and enjoying it more.

Writing for middle school through adult:
World Creation for SciFi/Fantasy Writers
Leading students in thinking about what goes into the creation of an imaginary universe, from the basics of geography, culture, and magic systems, to issues of diversity, borrowing, and conveying your world to the reader.  We also consider what fantasy worlds can tell us about our own world.

Art, writing, and history for upper elementary through adult:
The Fantastic Bestiary
Sharing the medieval bestiary's unique blend of art, 
mythology, science, philosophy, and social history, 
and the art and writing of On the Virtues of Beasts of the Realms of Imagination, my own bestiary-inspired book of mythical creatures.  This lecture is truly interdisciplinary, tying in with medieval European history, the history of science, religion/philosophy, art history, and the use of mythology in culture.

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​Linguistics for middle school through adult:
English: A Language of Immigration
Showing how waves of immigrants have influenced the English language from Vikings in the 9th century to Mexicans entering the United States now, and exploring how our language reveals our culture and our relationship with immigration and immigrants in the past and today.

​Literature for high school through adult:
How Speculative Fiction Can 
​Save the World
Sharing the historical, scientific, and psychological ways in which spec fic (sci fi/fantasy) has inspired people to try new things and behave more altruistically - and how we need to use speculative fiction to encourage creative and heroic problem-solving now.