Do you know about Kweli Journal? It’s celebrating its 5th birthday and I recently heard from its founder, Laura Pegram, who let me know she’s planning a tribute to the late Walter Dean Myers at her upcoming children’s book writers conference. She also shared this message on Facebook:
All things considered, we had a sweet year. Three Kweli authors secured literary agents as a direct result of either participating in our Kweli Scholars Program and/or by attending our Annual Writers Conference. This past March, we hosted our first book party at La Casa Azul Bookstore for Wise Latinas, Writers on Higher Education. In July, we expanded our Annual Writers Conference with events throughout the city. Our first NYSCA grant made it possible to bring on three guest editors this year for our Summer, Fall and Winter issues. In October 2014, Kweli was part of BinderCon’s inaugural conference at NYU.
2015 promises to be another spectacular year for us! The highlight of the year will be our April 23, 2015 program at The Schomburg Center: Words and Images (working title) with NIKKY FINNEY, RACHEL ELIZA GRIFFITHS and PARNESHIA JONES. It would be the first gathering of its kind in celebration of black women and the southern landscape. And it will include a NYC preview of Rachel’s Fall 2015 folio book and exhibition at University of Mississippi Museum. Rachel spent about 2 months photographing black women in Oxford, Mississippi this past summer, in and around the William Faulkner Estate, including photographs within the cabin of Callie Barr Clark (1840 – 1940).
2015 will be one of our best years yet!
LOOKING FORWARD to 2015
Children’s Book Writers Conference
January 21, 2015 5-9PM
Poet’s Den Theater, 309 E 108th Street NY, NY
This will be an excellent opportunity to learn, get inspired and network with others in the community. The evening will include author readings, panel discussions, one-on-one pitch sessions and a reception.
Featured guests include: Tracey Baptiste, Sulay Hernandez, Cheryl Willis Hudson, Charles Johnson, Elisheba Johnson, Cheryl Klein, Daniel José Older, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Danette Vigilante, Stacy Whitman, Leila Gómez Woolley, Sara Woolley and Phoebe Yeh
More information here.
Donate to Kweli here.
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