Saturday, May 2, 2026
Two sessions
9:30 - 10:30 AM 10:45 - 11:30 AM
Watauga County Public Library Meeting Room
Click to Register for FREE
Preregistration required. Attend either or both sessions.
If you have already registered and need to cancel or make a change, please email Purpurgm@gmail.com
The Friends of the Watauga County Public Library invite you to the
Spring into Books Event for Readers & Writers, a free event designed for both aspiring and experienced writers as well as readers.
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This event features two local, award-winning authors,
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DeAndra Davis and Irina Zhorov,
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talking about their craft. These talks will enable aspiring writers to enhance their skills, strengthen their habits, and better appreciate the writing process.
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The authors look forward to audience questions and discussions and
will read selected passages from their novels.
Session I, 9:30 - 10:30 AM
DeAndra Miller, speaker
Jewel Davis, session facilitator
"DeAndra Miller (Pen Name: DeAndra Davis), teaching assistant professor in the Appalachian State University Department of English is the recipient of the American Library Association (ALA)'s 2026 William C. Morris Award. The Morris Award, first given in 2009, honors a book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrates impressive new voices in young adult literature.
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Miller received the award for her book, All the Noise at Once, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. All the Noise at Once focuses on a Black, autistic teen who tries to figure out what happened the night his older brother was unjustly arrested in a moving story about brotherhood, identity, and social justice
​The announcement was made at the 2026 Youth Media Awards. Recognized worldwide for the high quality they represent, the ALA Youth Media Awards — including the prestigious Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, and Coretta Scott King Book Awards — guide parents, educators, librarians, and others in selecting the best materials for youth. Selected by committees composed of librarians and other literature and media experts, the awards encourage original and creative work in the field of children’s and young adult literature and media." ​Source:
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The session facilitator is Jewel Davis, who is the Instructional Materials Center Librarian and the Martha and Nancy Lee Bivens Distinguished Professor in Appalachian State University Libraries, She was Chair of the committee that selected the 2026 Randolph Caldecott Medal winner for best children’s picture book published in 2025.
Session II, 10:45 - 11:45 AM
Irina Zhorov, presenter
Judy Geary, session facilitator
Irina Zhorov was born in Uzbekistan, in the Soviet Union, and moved to Philadelphia on the eve of its dissolution. After failing to make use of a geology degree, she received an MFA from the University of Wyoming. She’s an award-winning journalist who's been reporting for more than a decade, primarily on environmental issues.
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Zhorov’s debut novel, Lost Believers is a rich and immersive story inspired by true events, about a meeting between two women in 1970’s Soviet Russia-a deeply religious homesteader living in isolation with her family on the Siberian taiga and an ambitious scientist-that irrevocably changes the course of both of their lives.
The session facilitator is Judith Geary, who has participated in the publication of over 150 books in the 15 years she worked for Ingalls Publishing Group and, since, freelancing as a “book shepherd.” Her experience includes manuscript editing, book and cover design and marketing. She currently teaches a beginning class in the print-media apps of the Adobe Creative Suite at Appalachian State. She has been a member of High Country Writers since 1996, serving as every office except treasurer, and currently serves on the program committee as a co-VP and as Zoom jockey for on-line meetings.