Here's the Story.
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City of Santa Fe Springs Diversity Summit 2009.
Zach J. Payne first knew he wanted to write books for young adults the first time he read Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak in middle school. While he had read lots and lots of books before (even going so far as to win pizza parties for his voracious reading in elementary school!), he never read anything quite like that before, and it kind of blew his mind.
But his road there was somewhat perilous.
He started writing poetry in middle school, great stacks of poems, written on printer paper, that were then presented to his mentor, Carol Weaver, for inspection. During his first year of high school, he published his first collection of poetry, Words Long Unspoken, to be followed by more collections every year. Despite the warm reception of his first book, which even included a library signing, the follow ups were quickly and rightfully ignored by just about everyone. (Including the poet himself, who, not having a credit or debit card at the time, could not purchase his own work.)
It is generally considered a net positive to the universe that these books have been condemned to the void of the internet.
During this time, Zach also served as an editor of his high school's newspaper The Californian. He spent all four years on the staff, serving the last two years as Editor-in-Chief. During his senior year, Zach was awarded with the Cool Kids Award by ABC 7 Eyewitness News, as well as other accolades from the City of Santa Fe Springs, the California State Assembly, the Cesar Chavez Foundation, and Congresswoman Grace Napolitano for his poetry, motivation, and anti-bullying workshops he led at Graves Middle School.
Zach's first novel was chosen by the faculty of Nevada's chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) mentorship program in 2015. Zach spent the next year developing his novel with author Heather W. Petty. From 2015 to 2017, Zach served as a query intern for Pam Pho, an associate at D4EO Literary Agency.
In 2016, Zach joined the staff of Ninja Writers, a company dedicated to helping new writers find their voice and write professionally. Originally starting out as owner Shaunta Grimes's executive assistant, the company has grown. Zach now serves as a workshop leader and as a managing editor of the Ninja Writers publication on Medium.
Since 2018, Zach has regularly kept a blog on Medium, where he writes everything from poetry craft to mental illness, and back again.
In 2020, he released his first poetry collection in several years, In Search of Sunflowers, documenting his Year of Sonnets experiment on Medium.
But his road there was somewhat perilous.
He started writing poetry in middle school, great stacks of poems, written on printer paper, that were then presented to his mentor, Carol Weaver, for inspection. During his first year of high school, he published his first collection of poetry, Words Long Unspoken, to be followed by more collections every year. Despite the warm reception of his first book, which even included a library signing, the follow ups were quickly and rightfully ignored by just about everyone. (Including the poet himself, who, not having a credit or debit card at the time, could not purchase his own work.)
It is generally considered a net positive to the universe that these books have been condemned to the void of the internet.
During this time, Zach also served as an editor of his high school's newspaper The Californian. He spent all four years on the staff, serving the last two years as Editor-in-Chief. During his senior year, Zach was awarded with the Cool Kids Award by ABC 7 Eyewitness News, as well as other accolades from the City of Santa Fe Springs, the California State Assembly, the Cesar Chavez Foundation, and Congresswoman Grace Napolitano for his poetry, motivation, and anti-bullying workshops he led at Graves Middle School.
Zach's first novel was chosen by the faculty of Nevada's chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) mentorship program in 2015. Zach spent the next year developing his novel with author Heather W. Petty. From 2015 to 2017, Zach served as a query intern for Pam Pho, an associate at D4EO Literary Agency.
In 2016, Zach joined the staff of Ninja Writers, a company dedicated to helping new writers find their voice and write professionally. Originally starting out as owner Shaunta Grimes's executive assistant, the company has grown. Zach now serves as a workshop leader and as a managing editor of the Ninja Writers publication on Medium.
Since 2018, Zach has regularly kept a blog on Medium, where he writes everything from poetry craft to mental illness, and back again.
In 2020, he released his first poetry collection in several years, In Search of Sunflowers, documenting his Year of Sonnets experiment on Medium.
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