![Patrice Lawrence on the YA Panel: Optimism for Difficult Times at Brighton Festival 2017](https://brightonfestival.org/assets/img/blank.png)
Optimism for Difficult Times
Mon 20 Mar 2017
How do you write about tough subjects with honesty, hope and humour?
Sharing their experiences and offering tips for budding writers are: Alex Wheatle, winner of the 2016 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize for Crongton Knights, a hard-hitting novel set on a estate plagued by knife crime; Brighton-born Patrice Lawrence, whose urban thriller Orangeboy was shortlisted for the 2016 Costa Book Award; Non Pratt, a ‘writer to watch’ (Guardian) whose novels include Trouble, Remix and Truth or Dare; and Queen of Teen 2014 Juno Dawson, author of 6 YA novels and a bestselling non-fiction guide to life for young LGBT people, This Book is Gay.