torn

I’m doing research today, but I’m torn between wanting to read these scholarly articles and needing to wrap up the THREE different chapters I’m working on right now.  The A is for Anansi conference is coming up in a few weeks, and I’m moderating a panel on issues of identity and representation.  So this morning I finished up an article on the legend of “the Flying Africans,” which is helping me with the creation of a portal for Genna, and then I looked up some other articles: “Reading in color: children’s book illustrations and identity formation for black children in the United States,” “Making books available: the role of early libraries, librarians, and booksellers in the promotion of African American children’s literature,” and I ordered a copy of Looking for a Face Like Mine, which is a documentary about countering racist stereotypes in children’s literature.  I think I have a few more words in me, so will keep writing and try to reach the 47K-word mark.  I never used to count words, but now I’ve become obsessed…

I hope we’ll see you at the conference, and if you can’t make it, I’ll be sure to post photos and podcasts and film footage afterward.

A Is For Anansi: Literature for Children of African Descent

October 8-9^th 2010

presented by Institute of African American Affairs – New York University

Location for all programs: Kimmel Center-NYU,

60 Washington Square South Rm. 914-Silver

Please RSVP at (212) 998-IAAA (4222)

A Is For Anansi will cover the history, criticism and theory of contemporary books for and about children of African descent, as told by its most influential critics, scholars, teachers and producers. The need for more in-depth analysis and for more information, critical evaluation, and publications on this topic still remain. The conference will look at these and consider other questions and issues as well.

Schedule:

Friday, October 8^th, 2010 – Opening Reception

6:00 – 6:30 pm

● Opening KEYNOTE: Andrea Davis Pinkney—Vice President, Executive Editor, Scholastic

● A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LITERATURE

Nancy D. Tolson—Associate Professor, Early Childhood Education Department, Mitchell College

6:30-8:00 pm

● History/Significance/Meaning of Writing/Publishing/Selling Literature for and about Children of African Descent (importance of bookstores; going beyond the obvious that it’s good for other people to learn about other people)

Moderator: Arnold Adoff—Poet and Anthologist, Roots and Blues: A Celebration; Cheryl Willis Hudson—Vice President & Editorial Director, Just Us Books; Author, My Friend Maya Loves to Dance; Regina Brooks—Founder and President of Serendipity Literary Agency; Kathleen T. Horning— Director, Cooperative Children’s Book Center of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Joe Monti—Agent, Barry Goldblatt Literary; former children’s fiction buyer at Barnes & Noble; Hannah Ehrlich— Marketing & Publicity Associate, Lee & Low Books

Saturday, October 9^th, 2010

9:00 -9:30 am   Breakfast and Welcome

9:30 – 11:00 am

● Issues of Identity & Representation (historical overview, phenotype-illustrating the books, role of language, look beyond books: cinema, advertisement, TV)

Moderator: Zetta Elliott—Author, Bird, A Wish AfterMidnight; George Ford—Illustrator, The Story Of Ruby Bridges, Ray Charles; Nicole Tadgell—Illustrator, Lucky Beans, No Mush Today; Myisha Priest—Assistant Professor, Gallatin, New York University; Khafilah McCurdy—Editor, The Journal of African American Children’s Literature; Nnedi Okorafor —Author, The Shadow Speaker, Zahrah the Windseeker

11:00 – 12:30 pm

● Let the Children Speak (roundtable of kids discussing children’s books, “books that have had a profound effect on me and why” video games vs. reading, why don’t I read, use of social media like Twitter, Facebook, blogs, video blogs and more, audience can include children, parents, teachers)

Moderator: Clairesa Clay—Teacher/Filmmaker; Respondent: Councilman Ras Baraka — Councilmember from South Ward, Newark, NJ and former high school principal

12:30 – 1:30 pm   Lunch

1:30 – 3:00 pm

● Critiquing & Evaluating the Books/Content (stereotypes, censorship, violence, raw images in picture books, depictions of the black family, political correctness in writing for children in terms of its ability to stimulate imagination as well as enhance cognitive and cultural development)

Moderator: Laura Atkins —Lecturer, National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature in London, England; Wanda M. Brooks—Associate Professor of Literacy Education in the College of Education, Temple University; Andrew P. Jackson —Executive Director, Queens Library’s Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center; Oralia Garza de Cortes —Latino Children’s Literature Consultant; John Sellers—Children’s Reviews Editor, Publishers Weekly; Respondent: Summer Edward—Founder and Managing Editor of Anansesem-Caribbean children’s literature ezine.

3:00 – 4:30 pm

● Literacy & Education for/of the Black Male

Katie Sciurba—Lecturer, University of San Diego; Fabienne Doucet— Fabienne Doucet New York University/Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, Assistant Professor of Education, New York University; C. Jama Adams—Chairperson and Associate Professor, Department of African American Studies, John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY); Tony Medina— Poet/Associate Professor of Creative Writing, Howard University

4:30 – 5:00 pm

Closure/Round Up/Survey

5:00 pm  RECEPTION w/PERFORMANCE

● Tribute to Virginia Hamilton, Tom Feelings, and Leo and Diane Dillon

Moderator: Esther Cooper Jackson—Editor, Freedomways Reader and Social Activist; Arnold Adoff—Poet and Anthologist, Roots and Blues: A Celebration; Leo and Diane Dillon—Illustrators, Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People’s Ears; Kamili Feelings—Writer/Teacher; Michael Patrick Hearn—Author,  Myth, Magic, and Mystery: One Hundred Years of American Children’s Book Illustration

Older Post ❱❰ Newer Post