Next #Flyychat!!

Slaying Monsters and Creating Mirrors: The Movement for Diverse Books- A Liberatory Act

 Monday, February 22nd @ 8pm ET 

 

"...if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves." -Junot Diaz

This month, I am so honored to be in conversation with a writers Renée Watson, Jennifer Baker, Zetta Elliot and blogger, Alia Jones to discuss the movement to ensure that diverse books are available to all!  During this chat, we will learn more about the work of my guests  and what inspires them to create their stories.  We will also discuss how the lack of diversity in children's literature affects young people from marginalized groups. Finally, we will shine a light on other authors who are creating wonderful children's literature as well as learn how all of us can join this movement and advocate for diverse books in our schools and our communities.  

So......JOIN US! :)

In the meantime, please take a moment to read the bios of our AMAZING guest and support their work!   

 

Bios

Renée Watson

Renée Watson is the author of This Side of Home (Bloomsbury 2015), which was nominated for the Best Fiction for Young Adults by the American Library Association. Her picture book, Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills (Random House 2012), received several honors including an NAACP Image Award nomination in children’s literature. Her novel, What Momma Left Me, (Bloomsbury 2010), debuted as the New Voice for 2010 in middle grade fiction. Her one woman show, Roses are Red Women are Blue, debuted at the Lincoln Center at a showcase for emerging artists. Her picture book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen (Random House, 2010), is based on poetry workshops she facilitated with children in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and was featured on NBC Nightly News.

Renée has given readings and lectures at many renowned places, including the United Nations Headquarters and the Library of Congress. In 2015 she was honored with the STEAM award for her work in arts education by Inner City Foundation of New York, Inc.  She is on the Council of Writers for the National Writing Project and is a team member of We Need Diverse Books. She currently teaches courses on writing for children at University of New Haven and Pine Manor College.

Renée grew up in Portland, Oregon and currently lives in New York City.

Website
www.reneewatson.net
 

Tumblr

reneewatsonauthor.tumblr.com

 

  Jennifer Baker

Jennifer Baker is a writer of fiction & nonfiction, creator of the Minorities in Publishing podcast, social media manager/panel organizer for We Need Diverse Books, and a contributor to Forbes.com. Her writing appeared in Newtown Literary, Boston Literary Magazine, Eclectic Flash, Poets & Writers magazine, and The Female Complaint.

Visit her website: www.jennifernbaker.com

Zetta Elliot

 

Born in Canada, Zetta Elliott moved to the US in 1994 to pursue her PhD in American Studies at NYU. Her poetry has been published in several anthologies, and her plays have been staged in New York, Chicago, and Cleveland. Her essays have appeared in The Huffington Post, School Library Journal, and Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures. She is the author of eighteen books for young readers, including the award-winning picture book Bird. Her urban fantasy novel, Ship of Souls, was named a Booklist Top Ten Sci-fi/Fantasy Title for Youth and was a finalist for the Phillis Wheatley Book Award. Her own imprint, Rosetta Press, generates culturally relevant stories that center children who have been marginalized, misrepresented, and/or rendered invisible in traditional children’s literature. Elliott is an advocate for greater diversity and equity in publishing, and currently serves as writer-in-residence at Weeksville Heritage Center. She lives in Brooklyn. 

  

 Alia Jones

Alia Jones is a graduate of Cornell University where she studied Cultural Anthropology, East Asian Studies and American Indian Studies. While at Cornell she interned for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. After college, she traveled to South Korea on a Fulbright Scholarship to teach english. Four years later she came back to the US to become a children's bookseller. Now she blogs about children's literature at readitrealgood.com. Her blog focuses on promoting excellent and diverse children's literature. She believes that increasing diversity in literature to accurately reflect the stories we see in our world is crucial.