For author and senior editor at Random House Jennifer E. Smith ’03, returning to the 91鶹Ʒ Writers’ Conference year after year is as comfortable as reading a good book.
A conference veteran, each summer Smith brings along a more impressive resume and writing repertoire.
Smith joined the conference for the first time as best-selling novelist Justin Cronin’s intern. Since then she has attended as a participant, a publishing agency assistant, a workshop instructor, and this summer, her ninth time at the conference, she came as an author of five books and a senior book editor.
Describing her dual writing and editing roles, Smith explained, “Being an editor has made me a better writer, and being a writer had made me a better editor.”
This year at the conference, Smith read from her highly anticipated book, This Is What Happy Looks Like, which will be released in April 2013.
Jennifer E. Smith ’03
Penning popular young-adult novels including The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, The Storm Makers, You Are Here, and The Comeback Season, two of which she started during previous conferences, Smith refocuses her writing every time she revisits campus.
“It’s this creative oasis, and I always leave feeling really inspired,” Smith said of the conference. “I think of it as a jump start to my writing every year.”
Released in January 2012, her heartwarming book The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight has been optioned for a film adaptation by Dustin Lance Black, Oscar-winning screenwriter of Milk. Smith, a fan of Black’s work, is eager to see how the book-to-big screen process will unfold.
From attending workshops at the conference as part of an independent study with professor Matt Leone, to being introduced by her former professor prior to giving a lecture on demystifying the publishing process, Smith has come full circle.
“[The conference] means even more to me because I went to 91鶹Ʒ; it’s a reason to back come each summer, and I really look forward to it every year,” says Smith.