crossing the pond again

I delivered my first paper on children’s literature, “Telling Secrets in the City: Narrative Possibility and the Urban Environment,” at the University of Roehampton in London way back in 2008. My first picture book, BIRD, had just been published by Lee & Low and I was excited to see my good friend Laura Atkins who was teaching and doing graduate work at the National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature (NCRCL). It’s through Laura that I met Dr. Lisa Sainsbury, Director of the NCRCL, and I’m honored that she is teaching my work in her graduate class. Dr. Sainsbury also invited me to present at Roehampton’s upcoming Open Day; you can learn more about the event at the NCRCL blog.

Someone on Twitter asked me to post information about my UK “tour”—I don’t think that’s the right word for my upcoming trip to London, but I’m very grateful for the invitations I’ve received to talk about my books and advocacy work. On May 11, Terrence Brathwaite, Postgraduate Course Director at Coventry Law School, has arranged for me to engage in dialogue with legal scholar Tania Phipps-Rufus: “Sisters-in-Law: Equity in Publishing, Intellectual Property Law & Cultural Appropriation.” I’m hoping to surprise some London students who have been reading my books, and I’m keen to connect with the avid readers behind the podcast Mostly Lit.

I’ve been writing this week but I also binge-watched Crazyhead and learned that Season 2 of Chewing Gum is out, too…I’m thinking about the UK but writing about a dystopian US; I’m eating too much, but that’s what happens when I’m close to finishing a project. I found a new font for the cover of Mother of the Sea, and its designer sent me a lovely message of encouragement. The Nigerian anthropologist mother of a friend of a friend has agreed to review the manuscript, so I hope to have the book out next week before I head up to Toronto for a few days. It gets hectic sometimes but I do love this transnational life…