Hawk Spotlight: Professor Edward Delaney on the documentary film, Library of the Early Mind
Many of our professors here at RWU have had an impact that extends outside the classroom. For example, Professor of Creative Writing, Edward Delaney, has published six books, directed and produced three documentary films, and authored a play.
At Heart Fest 2026, one of Delaney’s documentary films, Library of the Early Mind, will be screened at the Mary Tefft White Room in the library. This marks the film’s first showing at RWU since its release in 2010.
The film addresses how children’s literature affects creativity and culture and features writers who wrote memorable childhood stories, including Wicked, The Giver, Goosebumps, Heather Has Two Mommies, and The Polar Express. Through interviews, the documentary dives into the craft of writing for children—examining how and why these authors write as well as their individual writing processes.
Delaney hopes viewers will come away with a deeper appreciation for the genre, noting that “as much as children’s stories can seem very simple and easy, the writing takes great skill and effort, and most of these writers take their work incredibly seriously. Even when they tell what is on the surface a very simple story, it usually comes from complex experience and a lot of thinking about those experiences.”
Children’s literature is very formative, and Delaney emphasizes its lasting influence: “Most kids who are serious readers can almost always look back to a particular story they read that they feel was life-changing for them. That’s a touchstone that always is there and maybe shapes their forward movement more than what they might have imagined it would.”
We encourage you to attend the screening and reflect on how your own childhood reading experience may have shaped who you are today.
Come join us for the screening of Delaney’s documentary, Library of the Early Mind, at HeartFest!