Winter 2025      Volume 53, Number 1

Authors, Books, and Beyond: A Conversation with Zetta Elliott About Writing, Publishing, Trusting One’s Readership, and Her Novel in Verse, Moonwalking
By Amina Chaudhri

Document: Column  

Introductory Paragraph:  A prolific, multi-genre author, Zetta Elliott has roots in Canada and New York, but as she lives in Chicago now, Illinois can claim her! Recently, we had a conversation about her middle-grade novel in verse, Moonwalking, co-authored with Lynn Miller-Lachmann. Moonwalking features a brief friendship between two unlikely characters, JJ Pankowski and Pierre Velez, and explores the complexity of friendship when it intersects with race and class. Zetta shared aspects of her journey into becoming a writer for children, why she writes about “the texture of children’s lives,” and how she hopes her work will inspire and challenge readers to chart their own course. You can read more about Zetta and her new projects on her website: https://www.zettaelliott.com.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33600/IRCJ.53.1.2024-2025.72

Page Numbers:   72-78