Famous Author Featured in Speaker Series Event – Iowa State Daily

Camryn Garrett, a young adult author, presented her writing, which includes books featuring people of color and exploring a range of issues such as queer identities, sexual assault, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and fatphobia.

Garrett, who was named Glamor College Woman of the Year and one of Teen Vogue’s 21 Under 21s, has written several books featuring lead characters who are people of color struggling with a variety of identities, experiences and problems. Garrett writes about these characters and subjects in hopes of humanizing them and enabling readers to connect with them and find similarities.

The event was organized by ISU Writing & Media Services. Rachel McKenny, Associate Director of the Academic Success Center, acted as lead facilitator.

After the formal introductions, the event transitioned into a general discussion about the writing process, with Garrett sharing what that process is like for her and what works best.

“I really like the draft…I think it’s cathartic,” Garrett said. “I’m not the kind of person to edit as you go. I just threw up on the page and often I will write out of order.

There are, however, certain parts of the writing process that don’t come so easily to Garrett.

Garrett shared his struggles setting up storylines and explained that his writing was more character-driven than plot-driven.

Another challenge Garrett faced involved a change in mindset during COVID-19. She shared the story of a manuscript she started in high school when she was “living the best life possible.”

When the pandemic hit, Garrett looked at the manuscript and struggled to find that mindset. Since things were so different, it was too hard to focus on the good.

“I couldn’t mentally go back to that place,” Garrett said. “I was home all the time, as were all of us. I didn’t see anyone. I was just like, ‘I don’t even know what that feels like anymore.'”

The focus of the presentation shifted to his individual work emphasizing the evolution of Garrett’s writing styles. Garrett said his perspective on the central issues of his first book is very different from his current perspective.

“When I was writing [my first book]I didn’t think about the reaction of older people to the way I wrote about HIV,” Garrett said.

Garrett explained that she was thinking of those who didn’t have much knowledge on the subject.

“Most of my friends, most of my acquaintances, don’t know what the AIDS crisis was, and don’t know what ACT UP was, and don’t know about HIV in general, and I was thinking about that. “, Garrett said.

The presentation ended with a discussion and Garrett shared his final thoughts on being an author.

Garret has another book on the way, with a hopeful release in January 2023. His books are available at the Ames Public Library and bookstores such as Dog-Eared Books.

More information about Garrett’s work can be found on her website.