Elizabethtown College’s Creative Writing program will host acclaimed author A.S. King on Wednesday, March 25, at 7 p.m. in the High Auditorium for Collaborative Learning, Steinman Center. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.
An award-winning middle-level and young-adult author, King will read an excerpt from her work and facilitate a discussion on navigating the publishing process and strategies for meaningful character development. Following the reading and discussion, there will be an opportunity for a Q&A session and book signing.
“A.S. King is a generous and experienced writer, and I’m excited for our students to learn more about her work, her writing process, and the publishing industry from a working, published author,” Elizabethtown College Lecturer in English, Erica Dolson said. “It’s also such a special experience to bring our campus and surrounding community together over a shared love of reading and writing.”
King’s impressive career has earned her widespread critical acclaim with the New York Times Book Review calling her, “one of the best young adult writers working today.” She began her career journey while teaching in Ireland and has continued to teach in Master of Fine Arts programs across the country for over a decade.
She is the only two-time winner of the American Library Association’s Michael L. Printz Award (2020 for “Dig” and 2024 for “The Collectors”) and has won the LA Times Book Prize for “Ask the Passengers.” In 2022, King received the ALA’s Margaret A. Edwards Award for her lifetime achievement in YA literature, and in 2023, she accepted the ALAN Award for “artistry, courage, and outstanding contributions to YA literature.”
King engages in advocacy work as the founder of an LGBTQ+ youth charity Gracie’s House, and travels around the country speaking to students and educators about youth mental health. In 2025, she earned an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design as well as a doctorate in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University.
