Author Archive

Margaret A. Edwards Award Speech

Here is the original text of Tammy’s Margaret A. Edwards Award speech, as requested by some fans.

What a long, strange trip this has been—and yet I can’t complain. If you feel bitterly used and wish to exact vengeance at the end of my talk, I wish you luck, because it’s my father’s fault that I’m here, and he is swapping stories with the fellows in Valhalla. He was glad to hear that I fought my mother to watch the British TV series “Robin Hood” every weekday morning before I ran to school. You see, my father had three daughters, which means that I was the oldest son. I was never good at outdoor things, but when it came to books and television, my father shaped me. We shared the adventures of Thor Heyerdahl and Sir Edmund Hillary, Howard Pyle’s renditions (for boys) of the adventures of Robin Hood and of King Arthur, the historical novels of F. Van Wyck Mason and Kenneth Roberts, and the books of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Mark Twain, and Edgar Allen Poe. He approved heartily when I read the family Golden Library editions of The Iliad and The Odyssey. We watched “Davy Crockett” together, the World War II drama “Combat!”, and the original “Star Trek” series. My mother, who was a brilliant, troubled woman, oversaw my education in liberal politics and issues, and in religious and social history. She was the reason that my middle school principal introduced me to a visitor as “our little women’s libber.” It was the 1960s. Things were changing. I breathed in feminism long before my friends at school.

Not that I had many friends. Up until third grade things were all right. I lived in a small coal town where everyone dressed the same. Then we moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. I was obviously poor: one kid said I looked like a “refugee from a rag bag.” I used “big words.” I read too much. I knew no popular songs or dances or TV shows (we had no TV by then). I was beat up and bullied. A girl who had been my best friend the day before joined others at my bus stop to throw dirt clods at me.

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Tamora Pierce’s Supanova Schedule

Hello all! We’ve updated Tammy’s events page to reflect her schedules for Supanova’s Sydney and Perth events.

CLICK HERE to view the Sydney schedule.

CLICK HERE to view the Perth schedule.

Both will be updated to reflect final signing times as soon as that information is available.

To answer a question that’s been going around, these will be Tammy’s only appearances in Australia this year. She would love to make it out to Melbourne, Brisbane, New Zealand, and all of the other suggested places that you guys have been begging for, but it’s just not possible with time and financial considerations. If you want to see her (at current or different locations), let Supanova’s staff know! Tammy loves Australia, and she’d love to come back.

SURPRISE APPEARANCE!

Tammy will be appearing at the Barnes and Noble in Dewitt, NY, on Saturday, June 11th, as part of their B-Fest Teen Book Festival!

The appearance will involve a panel and a signing, both on Saturday afternoon. More details to come.

Books can be purchased the day of the event, but it’s recommended that interested parties call or pre-order to make sure the books they want to purchase are in stock. Fans can also bring their own books to be signed, of course! Please include a sticky note with the name of the individual to whom the books should be personalized. Limit of three personalized books per person.