Jo Witek

References cont.

• Delphine, M. (2007-2020). Babelio. https://www.babelio.com/auteur/Jo-Witek/64644
• Google Translate (Fun fact, Mainly everything i researched on this author had to be translated because everything was in french!)

References:

• witek, j. (2014). in my heart... a book of feelings. abrams appleseed. new york, new york.
• giulivo, r. (2015). proogue. https://prologue-alca.fr/fr/actualites/jo-witek-peur-sur-le-domaine
• Abrams, a. (2021). abrams appleseed. https://www.abramsbooks.com/contributor/jo-witek_7570378/

Jo Witek is a French writer, who was born in Puteaux, Hauts-de-Seine (she was born in France for those who don't speak French!) on September 4, 1968. She currently lives in Hérault, France. She studied drama in Paris and worked for the cinema as a reader and had other various jobs.

A look into jo's life

• *She has written over 20 children's books.
• *she started her career as a writer and film reader, as well as an actress!
• *J0 enjoys yoga.

"Sometimes my heart feels like a big yellow star, shiny and bright. I smile from ear to ear and twirl around so fast, i feel as if i could take off into the sky. this is when my heart is happy."
- Jo Witek

Jo's writing stemmed from a childhood growing up with nuns in a very strict religious education.
Writing to her, as she says "came to me early, like a second breath." what a statement! Most of her books deal with feelings and how she "saw" her life as a child. The book "The Tree and Me" was written based in a forest with tall trees that made her feel "small" in reference to the high walls of her school that made her feel confined.

letters that formed her

• Jo used to write letters to herself in school and hide them. she used to write about what any teenager writes about or wonders about. love, lust, their first kiss, and what the world was like outside the walls of her school. she would ask herself all the questions she couldn't ask out loud. her nuns would find these letters and read them. They would call her "devilish" and "a dangerous child."

In my heart, in my room, brave as can be and

jo would eventually leave the school. she would leave with trauma. her writing would abruptly stop, until she dealt with her trauma. she picked it back up through writing scripts. she felt "saying
the words of others exposed me less." This trauma would fuel her entire career and make her the writer she is today!

...My little gifts, all my treasures, hello in there! and in your cozy bed!