Faith On Every Corner_Issue 2_Final_91617

Writing For God and Family
Vanessa Fortenberry
We recently had the opportunity and pleasure to
meet Vanessa Fortenberry at her home in Dekalb,
Georgia. During our visit, we heard and discussed
how this inspirational Christian came to be a published
author of children’s books.
on the great American love story, which, although
never finished, has been kept in her writing files. As
with many of us, life events caught up with Vanessa
and she found herself abandoning her dreams of
writing.
Vanessa was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia.
As a young girl, she wrote plays, poetry, and short
stories. Fascinated with words, she was also an
avid reader. While attending Clark College, now
Clark-Atlanta University, she found herself in the
predicament of having to choose between English
or Music as her major. Her love of music prevailed
and she initiated studies in Music Education with a
concentration in Voice.
After graduation, Vanessa still could not escape the
appeal of the “written word.” She continued to write
poetry and, while in her 20’s, she started working
Vanessa’s career consisted of teaching general
music, chorus, and voice to children in the publicschool
system. She excelled in passing on her love
of music to her students. In 2000, she decided to
return to school to earn a Master’s degree in Library
Media. Since she felt that there would be a cutback
in public school funding for music and other art
programs, she wanted to have a plan in place should
that happen. She earned her Master’s degree and
Library Media Specialist certification from the
University of West Georgia.
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