Adrienne Kress
Biography:Adrienne Kress is a writer and actress born and raised in Toronto, Canada. It was only natural that Adrienne, the daughter of two high school English teachers, should fall in love with both creating and performing the written word. She began as a French immersion student and then majored in Drama at the age of 11 at the Claude Watson School of the Arts, and continued to follow this path through post secondary school, graduating summa cum laude from the University of Toronto with an honours BA in theatre. She then moved to London, England, to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and stayed for three years, acting in a variety of productions. Running parallel to her passion for acting was always her passion for writing. In high school, she won the Gordon C Johnson award for her work, and in university she studied with top Canadian playwright Djanet Sears. The play she wrote as a result of that experience, A Weekend in the Country, was performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2004, and in Toronto for the Summerworks Theatre Festival, to excellent reviews and sold out houses. Adrienne wrote her first novel, Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, while living in the UK. Although Alex is Adrienne’s first book, it was snapped up almost immediately by publishers around the world. It earned a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, and Adrienne was featured in the New York Post’s “Post Potter Picks” column (August 18, 2007) as one of six authors who have a chance to fill the void left by J.K. Rowling. Alex was also featured on the CBS Early Show as one of a dozen children’s book titles “you should know about” last Christmas. It recently won the Heart of Hawick Children’s Book Award 2009. It is published around the world by 10 publishers in 9 languages – English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Greek, Romanian, and Malay. Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate was released in January 2009. It is both a sequel to Alex and the Ironic Gentleman and a stand-alone novel. The protagonist, Timothy, has his adventure at the same tome as the Alex has hers, meeting up with her halfway through the novel. It is being published by 5 publishers in 4 languages (so far) and has garnered rave reviews from Quill and Quire and Publisher’s Weekly. Her short story “The Portal” is a part of the Wow! 365 anthology published by Scholastic, UK. Adrienne is presently living in Toronto where she is continuing to pursue her writing, acting and directing career. Her most recent project was a remount of Romeo and Juliet which she co-directed and in which she performed the role of Lady Capulet. Presentation Information:First off let me explain a bit about myself. I am an actress, and have been in numerous productions and have studied and trained extensively. As an actress, I am very comfortable being in front of crowds of any size. What is more, I have performed in children’s shows. For example, I was in a traveling pantomime show of Beauty and the Beast which was performed in front of school groups large and small in a variety of different venues. Aside from my acting, I have also been a teacher, mostly of drama, and mostly for the ages 8 to 12 (though I have on occasion also worked with teenagers). I taught for six years at the Georgian Theatre Festival for the Young Company and for another year at the Ontario School of Ballet. As a result of these experiences and others, I am very comfortable with entertaining, as well as communicating with, the audience for whom my books are written. My Presentations for Children The content of the presentation does change slightly depending on what the teachers think would make sense for their classes. (I once had a teacher explain to me, for example, that they were studying “genre” and so I spoke a little about that). However, the basic format works as follows:
Depending on time and space, and teacher preference, I can also teach the kids how to fence. Have no fear, no weapons are involved, the “swords” are the kids’ index fingers. I teach them very basic moves: how to hold a “sword” and the proper stance, how to “advance” and “retreat”, how to “lunge”. And then I put them in pairs and choreograph a very simple “fight”. These fencing demonstrations are very popular with the kids, and a bit crazy, and so they need room, usually a gym is best. My Presentations for Adults I begin by discussing where I got my inspiration and how I became published. I go through my process of getting an agent to getting a publisher, etc. Then I move onto the theme of writing for children. In that section, I talk about writing humour (which I stress belongs not just in children’s books, but in literature in general) and what makes writing for children different from writing for adults, focusing on things like word choices, etc. And then I end, once more, with a question and answer period. I am quick on my feet, as it were, and can come up with a presentation on most any topic (obviously in the field of writing) very easily. I am more than happy to discuss writing technique with teenagers in writer’s craft classes, or the do’s and don’ts of getting into the industry. All of my presentations have a great deal of humour to them, but they are also aimed to instruct. As I said before, not only have I taught, but just about all the adults in my family are teachers as well. I love teaching people, and I love stirring children’s interest in reading. Book List / Discography:Timothy and the Dragon's Gate (Scholastic Canada, 2009) Alex and the Ironic Gentleman (Scholastic Canada, 2007) Awards:Alex and the Wigpowder Treasure (UK title) Alex and the Ironic Gentleman Praise for Adrienne Kress:"Just wanted to say what a complete pleasure it was having Adrienne talk to the class today. She was completely engaging, informative and inspiring to the students. I've talked to a number of kids and they loved it. One brought her copy of the book to sign. She touched on a great variety of subjects and brought out a lot of questions from the kids." Mr. Wade "It was my pleasure to invite Adrienne Kress to participate in Literacy Week at my school in January of 2009. She had done readings/presentations to my students the year before when her first novel, Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, debuted, and both I and my students looked forward to her coming back to the school to introduce Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate. As usual, she was prompt and well prepared. Her reading was superb, and afterwards she answered the students’ questions with her unique blend of respect ant humour. She ended the sessions by teaching the students the fine art of “stage fencing and melodramatic dying.” Despite the large and energetic crowd, she maintained order and control and got everyone – students and teachers – enthusiastically involved. She left the audiences wanting more and eagerly lining up so that she might autograph their books and so that they might have a chance to chat with her up close and personally. I have arranged many author readings over my career. Adrienne’s are among the best. We are all looking forward her next visit to the school." Rhonda Grossman "Author Adrienne Kress has visited our school twice to talk to our students about her books. On both occasions she held the students spellbound. Her lively presentation had the students totally engaged and when they got a bit overly excited, she was able to bring them back to quiet attention easily. Adrienne incorporates her acting skills when reading aloud to the students. She made the text come alive. Using humour and her outgoing personality, she made the visit extremely meaningful and memorable." Joanne Raphael |
 Craft:author Genre:junior fiction Ideal Audience Size:1 – 2 classes Maximum Audience Size:100 (can be larger with appropriate seating and sound equipment) Grades:4 – 6 Website:School Reading Fee:$150.00 per reading Public Reading Fee:$250.00 per reading (four readings are funded by the Canada Council) Book Week Tour Contact:Lee Losell |