Kweli Journal, Truth from the Diaspora's Boldest Voices
Operating as usual
✨From our Editor-In-Chief, Laura Pegram✨
June Jordan was my mentor and second mother. She told me that the sky was my ceiling. Looking forward to tonight’s Jazzonia event at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. You can join me by tuning into the Facebook and Youtube channels of the @natljazzmuseum. See you at 7pm!
#jazzpoetry #Jazzonia #kwelijournal #jazz #poetry #LangstonsLegacy
✨These two books are available now for your reading pleasure.✨
Congratulations to @tasha.spillett @michaelagoade @nonieqa.ramos and @_jacqueline_alcantara! 💐
✨”So much of Black history is focused on exceptional people,” Greenidge said in a video interview earlier this month. “Part of what I wanted to explore is, what’s the emotional and psychological toll of being an exception, of being exceptional, and also, what about the people who just want to have a regular life and find freedom and achievement in being able to live in peace with their family — which is what Libertie wants?”✨
An excerpt and photo from @nytimes about @kaitlyngreenidge as she discusses LIBERTIE, which will soon be available to all on March 30th! 💐💐💐
#flashbackfriday✨
Publisher Phoebe Yeh talking to future National Book Award finalist, Ibi Zoboi at #Kweli15 at the Poets Den Gallery in East Harlem. Art exhibited in Poets Den Gallery was from a fictionalized graphic memoir co-created by mother/daughter team, Leila Esperanza Gómez and Sara Woolley Gómez which chronicles young Esperancita’s upbringing in and eventual exile from the political turmoil of 1940’s Colombia.
✨Registration for #kweli21virtual ends this Sunday, March 21st. Please use the link in our bio to join us April 9th - 11th! ✨
Celebration time!
Y’all already know that here at The Root, we like big books and we cannot lie. Accordingly, we love big book news from our extended family of writers and thought leaders—and the past few weeks have brought a few announcement that are, in a word, lit.
On this #internationalwomensday, we want to celebrate these three phenomenal women! Please see their words of wisdom below.
“I was really shaped by that ability to sit at the feet of writers that I would come to adore. June Jordan. Julia Alvarez. Isabel Allende. Paula Gun Allen. I could go on and on. These women and their books saved my life.” - Crystal Wilkinson
“But if we are to think of everything that happens to us as an experience that belongs to us then that process of reclamation can give us more agency and active power over our own lives.”
- Safia Elhillo
“I encourage other first-time novelists to commit to their own wellbeing so they can weather the uncertainties and setbacks that are sure to come up. Exercise, pray, see friends, take medication, whatever you need. The healthier I am the more productive I am and the more clearly I can see what a damn good way writing is to spend my life and time.”
- Naima Coster
✨🥂Celebrating the release of WHAT’S MINE AND YOURS by @naimacoster! Please swipe to get details on all of her virtual book tour!🥂✨
Sending love and congratulations to @safiamafia for tomorrow’s release of HOME IS NOT A COUNTRY! 💐
Please swipe through for information about her events taking place to celebrate!
THE BROWN BOOKSHELF Presents: AMPLIFY BLACK VOICE INITIATIVE. It is aimed at emerging & debut authors of color. See the links below for more details on this amazing gift!!!!!!!!
Happy Monday! We are excited for @wheresnadia ‘s Master Class this Saturday! You can still register at the link in our bio.
🎉🎉Introducing the 2021 Kweli Writer Fellows 🎉🎉
Beginning tomorrow we offer a lovely set of workshops and master classes.
CINELLE BARNES Barnes leads the way with the six week workshop “The Art of the Essay.” The workshop begins on Wednesday, February 17.
NADIA OWUSU teaches Layers of Revision master class on February 27 and KALI FAJARDO-ANSTINE presents Finding Our Stories on April 25. Please register at the links below.
The Art of the Essay with Cinelle Barnes
http://www.kwelijournal.org/the-art-of-the-essay-workshop
Layers of Revision with Nadia Owusu
http://www.kwelijournal.org/new-page
Finding Our Stories with Kali Fajardo-Anstine
http://www.kwelijournal.org/new-page-2
#masterclasses #kwelijournal #essaywriting #wednesdays #zoomlife #creatives #BIPOCwriters #writersofcolor
Enjoy these photographs from previous #kwelijournal conferences and be sure to apply for one of 40 scholarships to this year's #Kweli21VIRTUAL literature conference at the link below!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdq6g8Qx1PFWXWNEUuoQB4CCu3601EzfDElUmoxwzXPy81-6A/viewform
More candids from previous #kwelijournal conferences! Enjoy and then click on the link to apply for one of 40 scholarships to this year's #kweli21virtual literature conference!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdq6g8Qx1PFWXWNEUuoQB4CCu3601EzfDElUmoxwzXPy81-6A/viewform
Enjoy these candids from previous #KweliJournal conferences and then apply for a scholarship to this year’s annual event! Applications are due Monday, Feb 15th and 40 scholarships will be awarded. The application form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdq6g8Qx1PFWXWNEUuoQB4CCu3601EzfDElUmoxwzXPy81-6A/viewform
Kweli Journal's cover photo
Kweli Journal
Enjoy these candids from previous #KweliJournal conferences and then apply for a scholarship to this year’s annual event! Applications are due Monday, Feb 15th and 40 scholarships will be awarded. Please see the link in bio for the application form.
#Kweli21Virtual #BIPOCwriters #writersocolor #childrensliterature
Angeline Boulley, Author of Firekeeper’s Daughter (Henry Holt BFYR, March 16, 2021)
“I attended the Kweli Color of Children's Literature conference in April 2019. I submitted my first page and was in awe of Tiffany Liao's astute feedback. I hadn't realized it, but my future editor had just met my main character Daunis. It took six months from that day at Kweli to the book auction where Tiff became the editor for my debut YA novel. Kweli is a special part of my author journey. Chii Miigwetch to Laura Pegram for her commitment and passion helping our author dreams come true!”
The deadline to apply for the #kweli21virtual scholarships is nearing. The link to apply can be found below.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdq6g8Qx1PFWXWNEUuoQB4CCu3601EzfDElUmoxwzXPy81-6A/viewform
We hope to see your application soon!
#swipe #bipocwriters #writersofcolor #childrenslit #onlineevents
Joanna Ho, New York Times Bestselling Author of Eyes That Kiss in the Corners
"The Kweli Color of Children’s Literature Conference was one of the most empowering experiences I’ve ever had. I could have sat in those rooms and the panelists could have been completely silent for a whole day and I still would have drawn from the wisdom and inspiration and power in the room. Being in spaces surrounded by and learning from BIPOC authors, illustrators, agents, editors, publishing pros was incredible. Since my first time going, it has become the one writing conference I definitely attend each year. It is something of a dream come true that this year, I have the incredible opportunity to be one of the presenters."
Please apply today for the #KWELI21VIRTUAL scholarship. We have 40 available and would love for you to apply. The deadline is February 15th. The form link is in our bio.
#swipe #BIPOCwriters #KweliJournal #writersofcolor #scholarships #Kweli #literary
5 days left before the BIPOC scholarship portal closes for Kweli Color of Children's Literature Conference.
Over 40 + scholarship recipients will receive full access to the conference AND 6 months of Kweli mentorship from May 2021 - October 2021.
Here are links to the conference page & scholarship application.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdq6g8Qx1PFWXWNEUuoQB4CCu3601EzfDElUmoxwzXPy81-6A/viewform
http://www.kwelijournal.org/2021-kweli-color-of-childrens...
The deadline to apply is MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH, 11:59PM.
Please share the word with new & emerging BIPOC writers and illustrators.
Thank you.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The U.S. government violently uprooted Cherokee people from their lands in the southeastern U.S. and pushed them west, starting in the 1830s. The Trail of Tears ended in what is now Oklahoma. Reverberations of that trauma echo nearly two centuries later inside a new novel by Brandon Hobson. In it, the Echota family struggles to heal 15 years after a police officer kills Ray-Ray, the oldest son. The novel is soaked in questions of forgiveness, justice and vengeance and laced with images from Cherokee spiritual tradition. It's called "The Removed." And I asked Brandon Hobson about that title, whether there was a connection between the removal of Cherokees in the 1800s and the removal of Ray-Ray from his family's life.
BRANDON HOBSON: The violence against Natives and especially Cherokee in this case is still happening. And so I started thinking about specifically police violence against Native teenagers. And that violence against Natives continues to happen today that happened, you know, 200 years ago.
CHANG: Yes.
HOBSON: I wanted to emphasize in this novel.
*From @npr interview with @brandon.hobson.7 by @ailsa.chang.
#swipe #com #crowdcastbookevents #theremovedbook #tonight #creativeconversation #kwelijournal
The news is out! The Obamas' Higher Ground Productions and Netflix will be adapting Angeline Boulley’s FIREKEEPER’S DAUGHTER for television!!!
https://deadline.com/2021/02/netflix-obamas-higher-ground-tv-film-slate-firekeepers-daughter-adaptation-tenzing-norgay-feature-national-parks-docuseries-1234688357/?fbclid=IwAR3oe7ssXyv81ZVcm5hPVXoG5JnJxab68dgd6UVNbA6RDAoMKiKIIUMlSdQ
In bookstores on March 16th, FIREKEEPER’S DAUGHTER follows an 18-year-old Native girl as she reluctantly goes undercover in a police investigation on her Ojibwe reservation.
At #Kweli20, we invited Angeline to join our Books to Film panel moderated by author and filmmaker, Brian Young (Healer of the Water Monster, HarperCollins/Heartdrum, May 2021). Let's just say that we had a feeling after reading the first few pages back in 2019.
At #Kweli21, Angeline will be delivering our morning keynote speech!
We're counting down the days to Saturday, April 10th.
Join us!
Registration for #Kweli21VIRTUAL is still open. SEE link below for details.
http://www.kwelijournal.org/2021-kweli-color-of-childrens-literature-conference
Check out Kweli's Upcoming Master Classes, Workshops & Events with Cinelle Barnes, Brandon Hobson, Kali Fajardo-Anstine and Nadia Owusu.
Join us and share the word.
https://conta.cc/2YGwZhL
Gift = RACHEL ELIZA GRIFFITHS as #PoemADay Guest Editor for February. Unwrap each word slowly.
"Concentrating on the energies of wonder, delight, urgency, and intimacy, I hoped to sense how such complicated spaces and experiences are often inseparable from craft and risk."
—Please join us in welcoming Rachel Eliza Griffiths, #PoemADay Guest Editor for February. Read more at poets.org: https://poets.org/february-2021-poem-day-guest-editor-rachel-eliza-griffiths
One of my dearest friends, PHUONG ANH LE, will be interviewing the creative team behind the picture book, EYES THAT KISS IN THE CORNERS in less than 2 hours!
THE CREATIVE TEAM
JOANNA HO lives in the Bay Area, California with her two rascally children. When she's not at home stepping on LEGOs and chasing around a toddler who won’t put on her pull-up, she's at her school doing big, important vice principal things like chasing around teenagers who refuse to go to class. Her debut picture book, EYES THAT KISS IN THE CORNERS, was released this month and became an instant NYT bestseller!
DUNG HO was born and raised in Hue, Vietnam, where she studied graphic design at the Hue University College of Arts. After graduating, she worked in the design and advertising industries before discovering a great passion for illustration and picture books and becoming a freelance illustrator. Currently, she lives and works in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. Ho draws inspiration from nature and the interaction between people and nature and especially loves to draw children. When not drawing, she enjoys cooking and watching movies.
PHUONG ANH LE recently joined Kweli as a Contributing Editor. She was born and raised in Son tay, Vietnam and attended Princeton and Columbia Universities. Phuong Anh worked as a free-lance journalist and translator in Hanoi and as an international lawyer in New York. She speaks four languages and has lived on four continents, She is currently based in Abuja, Nigeria, where she's working on her first novel and a collection of stories set in Vietnam.
Join us at 11AM EST for a fun and engaging, bilingual conversation on the art and craft of writing and illustrating picture books.
Free and open to the public.
RSVP here:
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/joanna-ho-on-eyes-that-2
EDWIDGE DANTICAT was asked why she writes about herself and she responded this way: "I write memoir because there are people in my family who no longer can. I write memoir to honor their lives and share their stories. George Meredith said 'Memoirs are the backstairs of history.' I want to find those backstairs over and over and keep a map of them for future generations.”
Tonight's the night!
Join us for a reading and conversation with two brilliant memoirists: NADIA OWUSU and MITCHELL S. JACKSON.
RSVP here:
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/nadia-owusu-on-2
Share the word. SEE you at 6:30PM!
Joy = creating books and music for our children and watching their faces light up. I remember this day like it was yesterday. I was celebrating A WINDY DAY and RAINBOW IS OUR FACE.
TONIGHT at 7PM we celebrate RIO CORTEZ and the joys and challenges of creating The ABCs of Black History. It is a gorgeous and timely work of art!
"Black history is a story of heartbreak and triumph," RIO CORTEZ writes in the back matter. "Of incredible creativity, joy, and light, sometimes in the face of terrible pain. It is the story of always moving forward, of hope that each day will be better than the one before. Such a story--that spans continents and centuries--is too big to capture here, but we've offered a glimpse."
Join this NYT bestselling author for a chat on our unsung history, the art and craft of picture books AND MORE.
RSVP at the link below.
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/rio-cortez-on-the-abcs
Share the word.
SEE you at 7!
The supreme generosity of our donors makes it possible to offer 40 + scholarships for #Kweli21VIRTUAL! Thank you all for your steadfast support of Kweli.
BIPOC writers & illustrators & educators: The application portal opens TODAY at noon. Apply before February 15th!
SEE conference FAQ page for the link.
https://bit.ly/3a59dkA
Please spread the word.
RIO CORTEZ on "The ABCs of Black History" with ANNABELLA CORREA-MAYNARD. A story that spans continents & centuries, triumph & heartbreak, creativity & joy.
Join us on WEDNESDAY, 1/27 at 7PM EST.
FREE and open to the public.
RSVP: https://bit.ly/3bGMvSh
Please share the word.
!["[Nadia] spends her life moving between Europe, Africa and New York, reeling from her mother’s desertion and her father’...](https://scontent.fymy1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/p720x720/138103191_3712769795474714_6186220588352471645_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=8024bb&_nc_ohc=A_iE6268rdoAX_39doH&_nc_ht=scontent.fymy1-2.fna&tp=6&oh=3cc322fb2f98ab085141c2495032b04a&oe=60954804)
"[Nadia] spends her life moving between Europe, Africa and New York, reeling from her mother’s desertion and her father’s death. Her task and burden are threefold: to chronicle the historical wounds and legacies of each country; to chart her own descent into grief, mania and madness; to begin the work of emotional reconstruction. She does so with unerring honesty and in prose that is both rigorous and luminous.”—MARGO JEFFERSON, author of Negroland: A Memoir, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award
Join us on THURSDAY, JANUARY 28TH, 6:30PM for a reading and conversation between NADIA OWUSU and MITCHELL JACKSON.
RSVP here:
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/nadia-owusu-on-2
Share the word. Thank you.
Apply to CRYSTAL WILKINSON CREATIVE WRITING PRIZE FOR EMERGING BLACK WRITERS!!! Submission window: January 15 - February 15!!!!
#Kweli21 pre-conference events begin this month with RIO CORTEZ (author of The ABCs of Black History, December 2020), JOANNA HO (author of Eyes That Kiss in the Corners, January 2021) & BRITTANY THURMAN (author of Fly, March 2022). Author reading, craft chat, sneak peek of art from Fly by illustrator ANNA CUNHA AND MORE!
EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION
January 5 - January 24, 2021
Please share the word. Thank you.
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Traci Sorell, author of the forthcoming WE ARE GRATEFUL on attending last year's conference: "Meeting other Native folks from across the country...and that has made all the difference." Only a few more days to meet authors, agents and book professionals at this year's Color of Children's Literature Conference. Register now: http://www.kwelijournal.org/the-color-of-childrens-literature-conference/
Leslie C. Youngblood, author of LOVE LIKE SKY, shares her experience at Color of Children's Literature Conference! "Three months after attending the conference, I landed my agent." Are you looking to network with agents and editors? Register today: http://www.kwelijournal.org/the-color-of-childrens-literature-conference/
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