Lois Lowry on Literature

By Rilewa Ayoade

Lauded author Lois Lowry has been telling timeless stories for ages. She began her writing career in the 1970’s doing freelance journalism, and soon after, Lowry published her first book, A Summer to Die in 1977. She hasn’t slowed down since, publishing more than 40 books since then. Most recently, in 2023, Lowry released The Windeby Puzzle, a narrative taking place in the Iron Age.

Literature has always seemed to follow Lowry in life, as it does for most writers. I had the opportunity to ask Lois Lowry a variety of questions, ranging from what initially got her interested in literature, to the impacts it has made in her life.

Did you always see yourself being a writer?

Yes, from early childhood…perhaps third grade (I skipped second grade, so was just 7 in third) writing stories was the thing that I enjoyed most. I doubt if I thought about adulthood, or what I would do for work, at that age. But I knew that writing (and reading) were my very favorite things to do.  I filled endless notebooks with stories.  When I was 10, in sixth grade in 1947, I wrote a letter which was published in a children’s magazine called JACK & JILL, and it said…among other things: I AM WRITING A BOOK.

How prevalent was literature in your childhood?

I was fortunate. My mother had been a teacher before she married. Our home was filled with wonderful children’s books. And she read to my sister and me every night. She took us to the library as well. (She also took me to Sunday School. But to be honest…it was the library that became my church, my religion)

You have had a long published career. Do you mean to draw in younger audiences, or does it happen naturally?

I had majored in literature and writing in college, and I thought of myself….aspired to become….a writer for adults.  But in 1975 ,when I was 38, I published a short story in a magazine, a story for adults but seen through the eyes of a child; a children’s book editor read it, contacted me, and asked if I would consider writing a novel for young people.  (Odd that it had never occurred to me, because I had four children of my own before I was 26.) With that invitation (though of course they didn’t promise to publish it), and the subsequent publication of that book, A Summer to Die,  in 1977, I began to realize what a deeply satisfying field it was.  The letters (this was before email) that I got from young readers were so passionate, so heartfelt.

What do you think initially attracts youth to literature?

I think identification with a main character is probably what draws a young person into a book or story.  Then, of course, the writer’s task is to place that character in the midst of some situation which will be filled with all those elements that keep a reader turning the pages—mystery, humor, heartbreak, suspense—and to do so with language that sparkles and sings and hums and weeps.

How important do you think literacy is for young people today?

Literacy is a very broad term.  It’s essential in today’s world that young people master communication and learn to navigate their environment.  That requires, of course, literacy in its most basic sense.  I would add that literacy in a more refined sense is equally important: that young people can acquire, through our written language combined with their own imagination,  a sense of empathy…an ability to identify with other humans…which is the single most important attribute one can have in today’s world.

As an accomplished author, you often speak with students, and/or at schools. Have you noticed any distinct barriers that keep children from literature?

Oh, of course, it is electronic devices that lure and seduce readers away from books. Not just young readers. All of us!  Even me.  At my stage of life, though, I have the wisdom to set aside the iPhone, or turn off the TV, or close down the laptop, and to pick up the book that is waiting for me. Kids don’t. They cling to the bright shiny object…the bells and whistles. It’s a lazy way to exist.  But it is the adults, teachers and parents, who have to set the rules….and provide the alternatives.

How has writing impacted your life and where you are today?

It IS my life.

Lois Lowry can be found online at loislowry.com, and on social media under @loislowrywriter

Some responses have been edited for clarity