Dave Eggers talks at TED: 826 Valencia and Once Upon a School
January 6, 2009
You have probably heard of Dave Eggers. If not, get yourself over to McSweeneys.net or better yet, pick up a copy of any of his great books. From A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius to What is the What, Eggers is an amazing and hardworking author. He even oversees one of my favorite Best American series, Best American Nonrequired Reading. Though Eggers is the editor, the content is selected by high school students. It is a yearly collection of, you guessed it, literature and essays that can’t be found on any required reading list. 2008′s collection is introduced by everyone’s favorite children’s and young adult fiction author, Judy Blume.
Now, Dave is normally the type of author who remains behind the page, but you can check out a speech he made at TED this past February about his initiative to start 826 Valencia, a writing center for students in the San Francisco community. The initiative started with one branch, and has since expanded to include cities such as Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and others. The centers serve as locales for budding young writers to get tutoring, guidance, and to see their work come to life in the form of books. Eggers gives some great insight to the way 826 Valencia works, including how he and others collaborated with teachers’, tutors’ and students’ feedback to create a great, creative environment. See the video for more. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN
