My Journey
Author Bio
Evelyn Griffith is a children's author, poet, opera singer, and publishing professional writing from her MFA program in Norfolk, VA. Her work explores themes of faith, resilience, and human connection. She is currently writing a Middle Grade Fantasy Novel centered around intergenerational musical magic and she is passionate about crafting stories that resonate with readers on a deep emotional level. Evelyn has been published in the Literary Anthology Constellate, Running Wild & RIZE’s Short Story Anthology, is forthcoming in Shadowplay, and has been awarded a Wildacres Writing Residency for her children’s novel. When she's not writing, Evelyn is the Editor-in-Chief of the Barely South Review as well as the creator and founder of The Undiscovered which can be found on Substack. In her (admittedly sparse) spare time she enjoys running, baking fresh sourdough bread, and reading YA Fantasy Novels.
My Writing Origin Story
When I was young, I always loved being read to. My father would pull a book from the shelf, often an old one my grandparents had gifted us. One that I would someday recognize was from his childhood too. Generations of our heritage and literacy would come together in those moments, with my little head resting on his shoulder.
I later learned to enjoy reading for myself with the discovery of Brandon Mull's Fablehaven. Since then, I have devoured works in the children's literature genre. Everything from A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnette to Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly; The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo David Roberts and Abeni's Song by P. Djeli Clark. I've learned that even as I've grown older, the magic of Children's Literature has never left me.
It didn't leave even as we hurtled head first into the COVID-19 pandemic, where--with lots of time suddenly on my hands (as many of us found ourselves)--I wrote my first ever children's novel.
This is not a published work, and I don't intend for it ever to be so, but it opened the door for me to hope. To consider. To dream that maybe writing the books I have so long adored--creating a world for someone to love, as I loved them when I was a child--would be possible for me.
In college I majored in Creative Writing, and now I find myself a year and a half into my MFA and two years into writing what I hope will be my debut children's novel.