Q and A with Visiting Author Matt de la Pena

Author Matt de la Pena speaks to Berry students during an assembly

by Mason Waldron, Jag Rag staff writer

Author Matt de la Pena capped Berry’s Multicultural Week on March 22 by speaking to Berry students about his life and his writing. In addition, he held a writing workshop for several lucky students. De la Pena is a very accomplished author who has won multiple awards for his books, including becoming the first Hispanic author to win the Newbery Medal for his book Last Stop on Market Street, and getting one of his books, Miguel and the Grand Harmony, turned into an animated Disney movie (Coco). In this exclusive interview, you will have the privilege of learning what encouraged him to be a writer, why he loved basketball as a child, and finally, what he considers to be his greatest accomplishment (quick hint: it’s not being a writer!).

Q: What inspired you to become a writer?

A: “I grew up in a working-class community, and I wanted to tell the stories of neighborhoods like mine, and if somebody’s going to read my books, they’re going to read about communities like them.”

Q: What would you consider to be your greatest accomplishment/toughest task?

A: “Two things come to mind. Getting my first book published was the hardest, so I would say getting that first book in a bookstore, and, in a bigger picture sense, being a parent.”

Q: What inspired your love of basketball as a child?

A: “I think it was that basketball was my escape. I got to get away from all of the stuff that was happening in the community and in my family, I got to be in my own space on a court, and I liked it. I loved having my own thing.”

Q: What knowledge keeps you going as you write your books?

A: “I would say, now it’s a job, and I have to do it to eat and to provide for my family, but, I also just love telling stories, and I love visiting schools, and writing allowed me to do both.”