Alison McGhee

As an adult

Alison McGhee is a professor of creative writing at Metropolitan State University, where she co-ordinates the creative writing program. She also teaches in the MFA in Writing for Children program at Vermont College. The author lives in Minneapolis, USA with her three children.

As an artist

With three critically acclaimed adult novels under her belt, Alison was ready to turn her attention to the world of children’s literature. “First I wrote a picture book, which took me years and nearly unhinged me, because it was so difficult to do well,” says the adventurous author. “Then the idea of writing a children’s novel appealed to me.” The result was Snap, a gracefully told story about a sensitive girl who comes to terms with loss – and learns something about lasting ties. Of her inspiration for Snap, Alison says, “Recently I went through a rubber band phase, in which I wore several on my wrist at all times and snapped them in an effort to retrain myself out of a couple of bad habits. Sadly, the bad habits remained, but happily, Snap was born.”