Malorie Blackman Announces YA Conference in 2014!

Photo: Clara Molden

At High Street we love Malorie Blackman. She is an incredible inspiration and a real voice for Teen literature. Not only has she grabbed the bull by the horns since being announced as Waterstones Children's Laureate by speaking out in defence of the YA genre, she's finally arranging something that Gem and I have been desperate to be involved in for years.

The UK's first YA Literature Convention is rumoured to be held at London's Comic-Con in July 2014. In our opinion this can't come quickly enough!

The Telegraph reported: 

The author of Noughts and Crosses and Noble Conflict will also be working with Booktrust on a search for the rising stars in the UKYA community. She said: "We are incredibly lucky to have such a wealth of fantastic children's authors and illustrators in this country who create incredible stories for young adults to enjoy. It's so important to encourage, sustain and where necessary instill a love of reading in our teenagers. Reading opens doors and creates life opportunities. That's why I want to do my utmost to promote YA books for all our young (and older!) readers.

We couldn't agree more! It's great to see some YA love in the press instead of negativity. We'll be completely behind her in this mission. As soon as we hear anymore details we'll let you know.

You can read The Telegraph's full article here.

So what do you think? Will you be in attendance? Do you even think it's a good idea - and what about hosting it a Comic Con? Let us know by posting your comments below.