TLA Videos: Stasia Kehoe

Stasia Kehoe was next in our line up at the TLA conference. She's another of our "new" voices in poetry and it was a treat to get to know her and share her work with the audience.
She grew up dancing and performing on stages from New Hampshire to Washington, DC. She attended Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and ended up with a BA in English. While in college, she studied playwriting, joined a modern dance company, and acted in and choreographed shows. After graduation, she worked at the Kennedy Center with their Theatre for Young People.

She then earned a master's in Performance Studies from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, married her college sweetheart, and got a job at Random House Children's Publishing. She was immersed in literature for young people and found a particular home in YA novels. She started writing full time in earnest, had 4 sons, moved to the Pacific Northwest, and voila, published her first book, the novel in verse, Audition, about a dancer—of course-- last October.

-- Publisher's Weekly noted: "The author, who has a performing and choreography background, stages Sara's dance world clearly through her spare verse, from ballet moves and body aches to studio drama... readers will empathize as she struggles with everything from sore shins to whether she wants to continue dancing."

Ellen Hopkins said: "Stasia Ward Kehoe's sinuous verse compellingly weaves this story of high level dance, scandalous romance and personal sacrifice."

Audition has been called “sexy, poignant.... Intense, haunting, and ultimately hopeful.”

Stasia read an excerpt from Audition at TLA. Check it out!

Stasia's publisher (Viking/Penguin) has generously donated several FREE COPIES of her novel in verse, AUDITION, to my lovely blog readers. So, post a comment below for a shot at a free book. What is your favorite novel in verse?