Thirty-one writers across artistic fields will visit Los Altos High School for the 41st annual Writers Week. The writers will be speaking in different classrooms from Tuesday through Friday, March 3rd to 6th, to share their experiences and insights with students.
“We invited a lot of really exciting people for this year’s Writers Week, and so it’s nice that we’re showcasing a different way of thinking about writing to the students,” librarian Gordon Jack said.
Writers Week has a long history — according to former English teacher Galen Rosenberg, it began in 1985 as a memorial for LAHS student Tracey Cullinan, who was interested in writing as a career. After Tracey passed away from a brain tumor in his senior year, his mother, Lee Wooldridge, and former English teacher Maryann Simpson established the week to honor his legacy within the community. Today, parent volunteers such as Anjana Nagarajan-Butaney and Luisa Smith organize the event alongside LAHS staff, including librarian Gordon Jack and English teacher April Oliver.
One visiting writer is LAHS graduate and novelist Karen Nelson ‘89, who wrote “The Last Summer at Feather River” and “The Sunken Town”. Nelson recalled participating in Writers Week as a student, noting the event’s growth since its beginning her freshman year.
“When I was a student, Writers Week wasn’t as big as it is now,” Nelson said. “It’s a nice full-circle moment to be back in this school as a writer instead of a student.”
Another LAHS graduate, Yasmeen Serhan ‘12, returns to her fifth Writers Week as a speaker. Serhan is an award-winning journalist for Reuters, a British news agency. While Serhan never wrote for The Talon, predating her successful career, she remembered visiting the room often during ASB.
“I never envisioned that I would get the opportunity to go back to my high school and talk to students,” Serhan said
Among the many authors, journalists, poets, screenwriters and stop-motion animators, Jack said this year’s lineup emphasizes screenwriters and directors to cater to the popularity of LAHS’s Film Analysis class.
“There are so many more ways now to engage with filmmaking,” Film director and keynote speaker Imran J. Khan ‘03 said. “Students have more access to technology, like cell phones. I’m really curious to see how young people are making films.”
After school on Thursday, March 5, all community members are invited to the LAHS graduate’s presentation in the Eagle Theatre. A reception will begin at 6 p.m., followed by a Q&A at 6:30 and a screening of Khan’s 2023 film “Mustache” at 7.
“When you’re a student, it’s difficult to hear about how professional creatives work in the real world,” Khan said. “So I’m happy to impart what I’ve learned over the years to young people now.”
Writers Week also features authors visiting for the first time — about 50% of every year’s speakers are new, according to Jack.
During Writers Week, speakers like Nelson and Serhan will visit language arts classes throughout the week, presenting directly to students.
One new speaker is novelist Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, who wrote “Powder Necklace” and “My Parents’ Marriage.” Brew-Hammond said her goal is to engage students in conversations about the cultural themes in her books surrounding her Ghanaian American identity. Brew-Hammond also seeks to open conversation about how writers can explore their commonalities and differences through their work.
“I hope my books make it clear that, whether we share similar experiences or are separated by borders or beliefs, we are all having this human experience together,” Brew-Hammond said. “We need to be invested in each other’s thriving so we too can thrive.”
Short story author Sena Moon, returning for her second year, focuses on dark fiction that integrates themes of her own identity and the Korean diaspora as an immigrant. Lately, Moon has been exploring the use of the Korean word, 한 (Han), which appears in different languages as a way to express historical sorrow.
“I wanted to explore that through a modern lens as someone who’s younger and has never been through war, but still lives through the societal and generational trauma from it,” Moon said.
Organizers of Writers Week said that having a wide range of speakers is important as it highlights the diversity in literature.
“Sometimes in a school’s curriculum, writing becomes too focused on academic writing,” Jack said. “With Writers Week, students can see how professionals explore their craft.”
Nelson said that Writers Week shows students the forms in which writers can exist in professional fields in the Bay Area.
“It’s so important for students in Silicon Valley to see that there are careers outside of high-tech fields,” Nelson said. “Even if you don’t become a writer, you use writing in all aspects of your life.”
“I loved seeing potential seeds of writers last year,” Moon said. “Whether or not they know it themselves, and I just love seeing that inkling of what’s coming for literature in the future.”
