Faye Gibbons
Faye Gibbons didn't plan to be a writer. She grew up in the mountains of north Georgia---riding in wagons to backwoods churches, attending a one-room schoolhouse, picking cotton. As soon as she learned to read, she began devouring stories of other places and cultures.But it wasn't until she was in college that she thought about writing. "I dreamed of creating stories placed in faraway places," she says. "It never occurred to me that anyone would be interested in hearing about my part of the country. My dreams were soon overpowered by the conviction that people like me didn't write books."Faye turned to teaching, spending eight years in the classroom. She married and had two children, who provided a wealth of material to write about. When the youngest went off to school, she made a list of all the things she wanted to do. Writing was at the very bottom of the list.Her husband encouraged her write, however, and nearly four years later she completed Some Glad Morning, drawing on those rich experiences of her own childhood. The novel was chosen as Georgia's 1983 Book of the Year in Children's Literature. Her other books, include Mighty Close to Heaven and King Shoes and Clown Pockets, are also award winners.Faye is a frequent speaker at literature conferences, and has published numerous short stories for children and adults.
