Lois Lowry is an internationally known author of children’s literature. She has twice received the Newbery Medal, for Number the Stars in 1990 and for The Giver in 1994. Lowry will speak at Theatre of Youth on Sunday, April 1 at 10am and at 2pm following performances of TOY’s The Giver, based on her novel. Recently Lowry spoke with Artvoice:

Artvoice: How did you know you wanted to write for young adults, rather than younger children’s books or novels for adults?

Lois Lowry: I didn’t, really. I was writing for adults. Then, in 1975, I published a short story in Redbook magazine. It was a magazine for adults, a story for adults, but it was about a child…events seen through the eyes of a child. A children’s book editor read it, contacted me and asked me to write a book for young people. That became my first book, A Summer to Die, published in 1977.

AV: Your biography mentions that you had four children under the age of five when you finished college and started to write. How did you finally make that decision to go back to school? Was it hard to go to school with so many children?

LL: I waited until my youngest child entered kindergarten before I went back to college. After that I juggled college, kids, house, family…and after a while, freelance work as well. It was never easy. But it was very exhilarating, very gratifying, fun to use my brain after a lapse of 10 years, and to find that my intellect was still intact.

AV: I’ve been reading about the problems some adults have with The Giver and how it asks readers to question their lives and what they think they know. Why do you think so many adults have a problem with children reading and discussing some of the more complex issues in life?

LL: Adults are scared, I think. They are frightened by the world we live in. I sympathize with that. And I understand their wish to protect children. But I think we do kids a disservice by building a wall around them. Books are a safe way for them to begin to understand complexities, to begin to empathize, begin to grapple with harsh realities. Literature is a way of rehearsing real life. To be able to do that in the security and comfort of a family, a library, a classroom…and with adults to talk to…seems to me the best kind of preparation for entering the adult world.

AV: Was it strange to have The Giver adapted for the stage by someone else?

LL: Not strange. Interesting. And impressive. One time, when my oldest child was in graduate school, I visited her and watched her teach a college class. It was the same thing: seeing something (someone) I had influenced, and held hopes for, and realizing I had done a good job, and that she could hold her own and my role was complete.

AV: The benefit of novels is there is so much opportunity to be descriptive. A play depends so much more on dialogue and action. What was it like to see your novel performed on stage for the first time?

LL: I’ve seen several of my books in stage adaptations and a couple of films. They never “look” exactly as I had pictured them. But then they are different to each reader, as well, because we each bring our own imagination to a piece of literature. I love seeing the variety of ideas that talented designers and stage managers and adapters bring to my books.

AV: What do you think of the newest Newbery Medal winner The Higher Power of Lucky and the controversy over its use of the word “scrotum”? Have you ever wanted to use a word or idea and changed it based on what you thought the public reaction might be?

LL: I think that is one of the silliest controversies to have been inflicted on the public in a long time. And no, I never give a minute’s thought to what some individual’s reaction might be. What the writing demands are the words I use.

AV: Your Web site’s advice for aspiring writers recommends getting together with friends who also like to write and to read work aloud and discuss it. I thought this was interesting for two reasons. First, because writing is so often thought of as a solitary endeavor. Second, because so many people are in book clubs but few write themselves. Do you get together with other people to discuss writing?

LL: No, I happen to be a very solitary writer. I have a number of writer friends, though, who gain a great deal from writers’ groups and from discussion of work in progress. And I think most kids would enjoy and benefit from finding kindred souls.

AV: The loss of a sister and a son seem like something many people would never be able to overcome. How did those experiences affect your approach to writing?

LL: Everything one experiences goes into one’s writing. Joys, sorrows…whatever makes us feel deeply becomes part of what we write. You don’t “get over” tragedy. But you incorporate it into your being; it becomes part of who you are.

AV: What sort of topics will you be discussing at Buffalo’s Theatre of Youth event?

LL: I haven’t even thought about it yet. I’m just back from the west coast, headed to Florida this coming weekend, and San Francisco the weekend after that. All before I go to Buffalo. But I assume I will talk about what went into the creation of The Giver and the life it has taken on since its publication.

AV: Have you ever been to Buffalo before? What are you most looking forward to during the visit?

LL: I’ve been in that area before, several times, though it has been a while. And this time I’ll be in and out very quickly because of other commitments. But I always look forward to being with people whose interests are the same as mine: children and literature.

For tickets to The Giver and Lowry’s talk, call 884-4400. All proceeds benefit Theatre of Youth and the Buffalo Alliance for Education.