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Another rainy day…I’m just back from giving a talk to Dr. Brenda Greene‘s class at Medgar Evers College—I really appreciated their warm welcome on a cold, wet night!  Earlier today Cheryl Hudson kindly sent me an email with details about PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature. You can find the entire schedule here.  I’m planning to attend Thursday evening’s event:

THURSDAY, APRIL 29

7 p.m. A Gathering of Voices

Participants: David Almond, Francisco X. Stork, Janne Teller, and Ed Young; Moderated by Elizabeth Bird.

Instituto Cervantes New York, 211-215 East 49th Street—FREE!

Distinguished children’s book authors David Almond, Francisco X. Stork, Janne Teller, and Ed Young come together to talk about their work and its sources. Each author is rooted in and has found inspiration from a specific culture — in England, Mexico, Denmark, and China. How do their roots influence how they speak to children? Which subjects seem right? How have influences from other cultures affected them, and in what ways do they approach universal themes — and taboos? This lively panel will be moderated by Elizabeth Bird, author and senior children’s librarian with New York Public Library’s Children’s Center at 42nd Street.

Cosponsored by Instituto Cervantes New York and PEN’s Children’s Book Committee

In other news, Neesha has initiated an important conversation over at her blog on the issue of bullying; Edi picked up the thread over at Crazy Quilts, and would appreciate some feedback on how to develop strategies to keep our kids safe.  Does children’s literature do enough to fight that toxic combination of dominance and indifference to suffering?

Lastly, Farai Chideya responds to the so-called “crisis” of single black women—not all of us want or need a man to “put a ring on it”…