Aspiring writers can have a published author help them improve their skills at Mesa Public Library. Bill Konigsberg, award-winning author of “The Porcupine of Truth”, “Openly Straight”, and “Out of the Pocket”, is using Mesa Public Library as his public workspace as part of the Writers in Residence Program. The program is supported by the Arizona State Library, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

As part of the program Konigsberg will have office hours to meet one-on-one with aspiring writers regarding their work and host free writing workshops for the public.

Konigsberg is an award-winning young adult author. His debut novel, “Out of the Pocket”, won the Lambda Literary Award in 2009. His second novel, “Openly Straight”, won the Sid Fleischman Award for Humor and was a finalist for the Amelia Elizabeth Warren Award and Lambda Literary Awards in 2014. His third novel, “The Porcupine of Truth”, won the Stonewall Book Award in 2016 and made it on the Young Adult Library Association’s 2016 Best Fiction for Young Adults list. Konigsberg will be at the library March through May. For more information on programs at Mesa Public Library, call (480) 644-3100 or visit www.mesalibrary.org.