Mary Maliszewski Celebrates International Women's Day in a New Nonfiction Book

As young readers learn more about some of the important causes of our time, and those that were undertaken by previous generations, they will be eager to find out more about women's right movements and the way that women are celebrated for their accomplishment and achievements. Luckily, author Mary Maliszewski has a new nonfiction book that delves into these issues.

In International Women's Day (Saunders Book Company), the author celebrates this titular holiday, as well as all of the women in our lives and their importance in the world that we live in. This is part of the Canadian Celebrations series, which provides a closer look at significant holidays, and the history of how they came to be.

Check out this Kid's Club BFYP interview with the author, and find out how this new book was conceived and created!

Open Book:

Tell us about your new book and how it came to be.

Mary Maliszewski:

I met James Saunders — the CEO of Beech Street Books — at a virtual event in 2023, where we bonded over a shared appreciation for school libraries. Several months later, he approached me to write a few non-fiction titles for young readers. One of those titles was International Women’s Day. As a young woman with an interest in history, James thought that I would be a good fit for this particular topic. I agreed to take on the project, partly because I thought it was an important subject for kids to learn about and partly because I was interested in learning more about the subject myself.

OB:

Is there a message you hope kids might take away from reading your book?

MM:

I hope that my book will help kids appreciate women throughout history. Though many of the historical figures in my book are household names, some of them are overshadowed by their male colleagues and don’t get the recognition that they deserve. I want my readers to know about the contributions women have made to all of these different fields.

OB:

What do you need in order to write – in terms of space, food, rituals, writing instruments?

MM:

I normally write on a laptop, so in theory, I can take my writing anywhere. That said, I find that I’m most comfortable writing in my bedroom with my door shut. I make a point of closing all my other tabs before I begin, so that I won’t be tempted to open social media while I’m working. I also put on headphones and a white noise playlist to help me stay focused. I don’t usually eat or drink anything while I’m working, but I try to take regular breaks so that I can take care of my personal needs.

OB:

How do you cope with setbacks or tough points during the writing process? Do you have any strategies that are your go-to responses to difficult points in the process?

MM:

As mentioned previously, I try to take regular breaks so that I don’t burn myself out. Sometimes this means getting up and going for a walk; other times, it just means going down to the kitchen and getting myself a snack. Most often, it means talking with my family about whatever’s bothering me. Both of my parents are experienced writers, so they usually have good advice on how to handle creative snags. Even when they don’t know how to solve the problem, I find that talking to somebody about a problem out loud helps my brain to come up with a workable solution.

OB:

Do you feel like there are any misconceptions about writing for young people? What do you wish people knew about what you do?

MM:

I feel like a lot of kids have this idea that professional writers don’t make mistakes; that once you become a published author, you don’t write drafts anymore, you just skip straight to the final copy. While it’s true that my writing process has changed a lot from when I was in school — I’ve long since outgrown the “hamburger” paragraph structure that most students use to write essays — I’m far from a perfect writer. My work needs a lot of revision before it can be considered “finished” and even then, I’m not always satisfied with the final product. Writing is a skill that takes time to master. Being a professional doesn’t automatically make you an expert.

OB:

What’s your favourite part of the life cycle of a book? The inspiration, writing the first draft, revision, the editorial relationship, promotion and discussing the book, or something else altogether? What’s the toughest part?

MM:

I often joke that I like writing more in principle than in practice. For me, coming up with ideas is a lot easier for me than putting them on paper (or in this case, into a Word document). I enjoy many aspects of “pre-writing” — researching the topic, creating an outline and so on — but when it comes time to actually put it all together, I get nervous. Thankfully, that nervousness usually subsides by the time I’ve completed my first draft. 

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Mary Maliszewski is an author and journalist from Toronto, Ontario. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto’s creative writing program and a frequent contributor to blogTO. When she isn’t writing, Mary can be found reading, playing video games and spending time with her family.