Atkins High Senior Publishes First Novel

Meredith Hemphill (photo by Nathan Matias)

In the Jan. 27 issue of Caravan News, the online newspaper at Atkins Academic & Technology High School, reporter Brandon Rogers writes about Atkins senior Meredith Hemphill publishing her first novel. Hemphill is also a poet. In April, she placed third in the annual Poet Laureate competition sponsored by the Forsyth Education Partnership and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.

Here is an excerpt from the story by Rogers, which includes a Q&A with Rogers and a teaser from the novel:

The Atkins HS student body is comprised of future medical specialists, engineers, and game designers, but did you know the school also has an author? Yes, it does, and her name is Meredith Hemphill, currently a senior here at Atkins. Her writing pen name is Meri Elena. 

Q: How does it feel to be a young publisher?

A: It just feels right. I don't know how to explain it. I guess maybe I feel self-actualized. It's like, when I look at the book, I know I've done it. I have accomplished the greatest undertaking of my life up to this point. It's exhilarating, it's gratifying, but mostly it feels complete, like when you've been working on one of those puzzles with thousands of tiny pieces forever, and you finally plop in the very last piece.

Q: What made you write your novel?

A: I've always been a storyteller. I don't know how many hours my poor parents spent listening to me narrate the life story of my Polly Pockets as a kid. Towards the end of elementary school it occurred to me that I could write down my stories and make books, but I didn't start writing seriously until middle school. That was when the story that became Nightfall started to take shape in my mind. In seventh and eighth grades I came up with countless story ideas and wrote a few pages for each. The story that I always came back to was Brunswick. About two years ago I decided to devote all my energies to Nightfall, although it had a different name at the time, and now here we are.

Nathan Matias took the photograph that accompanies the story. For the full story go to Caravan News