Podcast Series With Patti Gauch On Writing: Heart, Voice, Transcendence and Passion
Over the summer of 2024, Patti Gauch reviewed and chose four of her favorite speeches from our “Chautauqua Days.” In the early years of the Highlights Foundation, we hosted one annual workshop for children’s authors and illustrators at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, and Patti delivered an inspiring keynote address each summer at the workshop. As we celebrate 40 years of the Highlights Foundation, Patti has been gracious enough to step back with us to share some of those early Chautauqua addresses while considering the relevance of the content today.
In this podcast series, you might find yourself thinking back in time 20+ years. Or you might find yourself listening along and recognizing that the content of these speeches is as pertinent today as it was when Patti first delivered these speeches.
About Patti
Former vice president and editor-at-large of Philomel Books and a long-time faculty member at the Highlights Foundation, Patricia Lee Gauch (Patti) is now a full-time writer and lecturer. She has authored more than 40 picture books and novels for young readers. Patti holds a doctorate in English literature, has taught children’s literature at the college level, and has reviewed for the New York Times.
Patti has edited three Caldecott books, including Owl Moon by Jane Yolen and John Schoenherr and So You Want to Be President? by Judith St. George and David Small. She has worked with many well-known authors and artists, including Eric Carle, Patricia Polacco, Brian Jacques, Andrew Clements, T.A. Barron, and Loren Long.
“What makes an editor? And what indeed makes a writer-editor-teacher! This is a journey into a creative life—biography, philosophy, hints on discovering and writing story. The goal is to share the journey.” —Patti Gauch
“Let me…hear your heart in the shape of your story, the characters you choose, in the words you choose, in the motion of your story, and the emotion, the authenticity of it, and perhaps most important, the idea.”
“Where does the ability to transcend as a writer come from? It comes from everywhere. It comes from living in the present, in the textures of life so that you know them.”
“A writer’s voice is not character alone. It is not style alone. It is far more. A writer’s voice, like the stroke of an artist’s brush, is the thumbprint of his or her whole person…”
“True passion isn’t common. It never has been. Because that passion, that simple artistic passion ignites everything. It ignites the original idea for the book.”
The Patricia Lee Gauch Scholarship at the Highlights Foundation
Patti has always been a tireless teacher and supporter, nurturing authors along their journeys. A true champion of story and teacher who can draw more from a student than that student might imagine, Patti embodies a spirit of giving back. Throughout more than 35 years of teaching at the Highlights Foundation, Patti’s impact has been felt by countless writers. She helped them find their voice!
After we established the Patricia Lee Gauch Scholarship in 2009, an enthusiastic group of Patti Gauch’s students has set a goal of increasing The Patricia Gauch Scholarship Fund, which provides enough money for a scholarship each year, enabling a chosen Patti Scholar to attend a Highlights Foundation novel workshop. Novel writing workshops help writers achieve their goal of writing a novel, through honing voice, plot, character development, and so much more.
A few of the books edited by Patti Gauch:
