lois metzger

I’m always happy to speak to kids in person or on Zoom! Please contact me and let’s set something up.

As part of Annenberg funding for education in New York City, I was an Artist-in-Residence at my old school, P.S. 165 in Flushing, Queens. All the kids wanted to know if I knew “the Nanny.” That’s Fran Drescher, and she went to P.S. 165 too, but we didn’t overlap.

I got to participate in the National Book Foundation’s Settlement House Author Residency program. It was a great pleasure to work with teenagers and adults; give readings; and answer questions about writing, at four different sites.

I spoke about my book, Yours, Anne: The Life of Anne Frank, at The New York Society Library, and received this note afterward: “Thank you for your lovely program at the library Tuesday night. Both the children and the adults were moved by the thought-provoking words and images you shared.”

In the Mae West Room at the Jefferson Market Library, in Greenwich Village, I ran a weekly writing workshop for kids. After learning about setting, character, dialogue, voice, and character transformation, they then wrote their own wonderful stories. I was especially pleased when one of the parents told me that her daughter was applying what she’d learned in the workshop to her school assignments.

I participated in “Career Day” at New York’s High School for Law, Advocacy and Community Justice near Lincoln Center. I spoke about what it’s like to be a writer: there are highs(acceptances) and lows (rejections)!

I Zoomed with the entire fifth grade at the Pine Crest School in Florida for five years in a row. “Wow!” Trudy Zimmerman, their teacher, told me. “The kids loved you and there was certainly a ‘buzz’ around 5th grade after your presentation.” One kid wrote me, “Who knows, maybe you’ve just created 96 writers!” Another wrote: “I was clearly inspired by what you said. I thought that writing was just sit there until an idea hits you in the head, but now I know that you actually have to be inspired by something, move around, and see the world!” And: “I learned that some books come from a memory or something that happened to you. Except you change it around.”

When I spoke to the fifth grade at the United Nations International School, a private school in New York City, they had just read The Hidden Girl: A True Story of the Holocaust and had excellent questions. Afterward, one of the students wrote me: “I really think you have a smart, extensive and colorful mind. I really love the hidden girl after Ms. Rosen finished reading it I was so lost in thought that I arrived ten minutes late to my next class. To be honest, it was the best story I’ve ever heard, I am not kidding! Thank you for your tribute to the world.” Another student wrote: “You seem very nice.” Well, I appreciate that!