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Marina Cohen

Children’s/YA author, Marina Cohen, would love to plan a visit to your school or library.  Her rate is $250.00 per session, plus travel from Markham, Ontario.

Marina is a part-time teacher in the York Region District School Board.  She wrote the first draft of her first novel, a science-based fantasy about boy/girl twins in 2002—two years prior to giving birth to her own boy/girl twins.  It took five long years of re-writing, editing and submitting to various publishers before she finally received her first contract.  Marina’s bibliography and details of her presentation follow this message.

Here is what Melissa Wills of Glad Park had to say about a recent visit:

... our school truly enjoyed the presentation provided by Mrs. Cohen this week... her presentation was thoroughly informative, engaging and purposeful.  She provided excellent insight into the writing process, actively involved the students in a progressive lesson involving suspenseful writing and entertained the students throughout her entire visit...

Marina is a member of The Writers' Union of Canada, and so schools wishing to invite her may be eligible for a travel and fee subsidy to off-set the cost of her visit.

 
YA fiction:

“My Apology” in Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories, 2011
Mind Gap, 2011
Ghost Ride, 2009
Middle grade fiction:
Chasing the White Witch, 2011
Shadow of the Moon, 2007
Trick of the Light, 2007

Non-fiction:

What is Cell Theory? 2011
Why We Need Vitamins, 2011
Changing Cultural Landscapes (Investigating Human Migration), 2010
3-D Shapes (My Path to Math), 2010
Money Math (My Path to Math), 2010
Polygons (My Path to Math), 2010
Cells (Let's Relate to Genetics), 2009 
Genetic Engineering (Let's Relate to Genetics), 2009 
Live It!  Cooperation (Crabtree Character Sketches), 2009 
Live It!  Inclusiveness (Crabtree Character Sketches), 2009
Probability (My Path to Math), 2010 

Awards and Recognition

Ghost Ride—2011 Red Maple Fiction Honour Book

Shadow of the Moon—Selected for York Region’s Battle of the Books 2008, 2009

Trick of the Light—Selected for York Region’s Battle of the Books, 2010, 2011

Marina is the recipient of the Curriculum Development Award -- Women's Program from the Ontario Teacher's Federation (EFTO)

“The contribution you are bringing to education with respect to your work on Shadow of the Moon Teacher’s Guide is significant and I am sure it will be of direct benefit to many teachers and students in the future.”  David Clegg, ETFO President.

Presentation Details

Marina Cohen’s presentation is exciting, engaging and interactive. Full of humour and student participation, she is able to captivate avid and reluctant readers alike.

Marina takes the students along on her long and bumpy road toward publication—a road paved with disappointment, rejection and a lot of tears. She talks about the editing process and how she spent months of writing, re-writing and revising her original manuscript prior to receiving her first contract—her ultimate message is one of perseverance.

Using student participation and drama, Marina demonstrates four techniques she uses to write suspenseful scenes. Students are so engaged, they don’t even realize it is a lesson!

Marina concludes her presentation by reading a suspenseful passage from one of her novels and then opens up the presentation to questions from the audience.

Marina’s flair for drama and her teaching knowledge make her presentation both entertaining and educational.

Marina will present to grades 4-12.

There is no maximum to the number of students; however, Marina prefers to keep junior and intermediate audiences separate.

The Plot, Pace and Pourquoi of Paranormal Writing
Professional Development Workshops on engaging reluctant readers
Grade 12 Writers' Craft Workshops

Maximum participants for workshop: one class (30)

 

Marina is comfortable in any setting, be it classroom, library, auditorium or gymnasium.

She requires a table for presentation material, either an overhead projector or an LCD projector and a white board or screen, if possible. She is fluent in French and German and can do presentations in those languages as well as in English.