THE COLOR OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE CONFERENCE
2020
‟Books transmit values. They explore our common humanity. What is the message when some children are not represented in those books?”
—WALTER DEAN MYERS
Where Are the People of Color in Children's Books?
New York Times, March 15, 2014
#KWELI20 is going VIRTUAL!
In an effort to help people stay healthy, protect those most vulnerable, and prevent spread of COVID-19, we have decided to hold the #Kweli20 conference online. We are following Barnard and Columbia University, who moved to virtual classes on March 11th, through the remainder of the spring semester.
Join us online for Kweli’s 10th anniversary year!
We will honor Walter Dean Myers' legacy with a conference that celebrates and supports our unique voices, our nuanced stories, our truth. Kweli's spring conference is an excellent opportunity for Indigenous and POC writers and illustrators to learn, get inspired and network with others in the industry.
We begin our virtual conference on Friday, April 3, 2020 with four Master Classes: Ruthless Revision with LINDA SUE PARK (Middle Grade Novel) at 9AM - 12PM; Collage with VANESSA BRANTLEY NEWTON (Picture Book) at 9AM - 12PM; Writing Home with IBI ZOBOI (Young Adult Novel) 1:30PM - 4:30PM; and The Woven Verse: How to Craft a Novel in Verse with AIDA SALAZAR (Middle Grade and Young Adult Novels), 1:30PM - 4:30PM. These workshops are limited to 20 - 25 students.
We have an exciting line up on Saturday, April 4, 2020, from 8:45AM-6PM with an opening keynote address by Activist scholars, DR. DEBBIE REESE and DR. JEAN MENDOZA and a closing keynote by Newbery medalist, LINDA SUE PARK. During the day there will be panels and workshops with award-winning authors and illustrators VANESSA BRANTLEY-NEWTON, KACEN CALLENDER, ROSHANI CHOKSHI, MICHAELA GOADE, RAUL THE THIRD, NIKKI GRIMES, ADIB KHORRAM, MINH LE, NILAH MAGRUDER, AIDA SALAZAR, TRACI SORELL, DUNCAN TONATIUH, RENEE WATSON, IBI ZOBOI and others. Please note that there will be four separate tracks this year: a Publishing Track, a Novel Track, an Illustrated Books & Nonfiction Track and our Intensives Track. Panels and workshops will cover topics from the craft to the business of writing. Top editors, agents, and authors will discuss crucial steps to help launch a writer's career and offer carefully considered manuscript critiques and portfolio reviews. Critiques will run concurrently with panels, and books will be available for sale and signing.
REGISTER NOW
MORNING KEYNOTE
BRIAN YOUNG
CLOSING KEYNOTE
LINDA SUE PARK
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
Friday, April 3, 2020
9:00am - 12pm
MASTER CLASSES
A. Middle Grade Novel
Ruthless Revision with Linda Sue Park, author of A Long Walk to Water and Prairie Lotus
B. Picture Book
Collage with Vanessa Brantley Newton, illustrator of The King of Kindergarten and author/illustrator of Grandma’s Purse
* * *
1:30pm - 4:30pm
MASTER CLASSES
A. Young Adult Novel
Writing Home with Ibi Zoboi, author of American Street and Pride
B. Novel-in-Verse
The Woven Verse: How to Craft a Novel-in-Verse with Aida Salazar, author of The Moon Within and The Land of the Cranes
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
Saturday, April 4, 2020
8:15am - 8:45am
ZOOM CHECK-IN
8:45am - 9:00am
Welcome and Introduction by Laura Pegram, Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich and Kelly Starling Lyons
9:15am - 9:45am
Keynote by Brian Young
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10:00am - 10:45am
A. Publishing Track
Bringing Books into Schools: In this session, authors at all levels of visibility will learn about what they can do to get their books into schools and be noticed by Language arts teachers. Discover the various types of texts teachers look for when deciding which novels are worthy of academic study. Explore an overview of the book adoption process for librarians and English teachers. Learn about the process of text selection, and censorship so you can best market your book to schools of all types and sizes in a variety of geographic locations. Featuring: Julia Torres
B. Novel Track
Worldbuilding: Using cultural stories and mythology as a foundation for fiction. Featuring: Roshani Chokshi, Raul The Third, Kwame Mbalia & Brian Lee Young; moderated by Ibi Zoboi
C. Illustrated Books and Nonfiction Track
Picture Book Dummies & Writing to the Page Turn
Featuring: Aram Kim, Kevin Maillard & Duncan Tonatiuh; moderated by Vanessa Brantley Newton
11:00am - 11:45am
A. Publishing Track
What to Expect: The Author-Agent-Editor Relationship: Join top industry professionals in a panel discussion where they will cover different aspects of the author-agent-editor relationship. Featuring: Traci Sorell & Namrata Tripathi + Faye Bender, Angeline Boulley & Tiffany Liao; moderated by Wendi Gu
B. Novel Track
First Pages Clinic: Why do some story openings pull the reader immediately while others leave you wanting more? In this session, an agent and two editors will give direct feedback on the first 250 words of a novel. Openings will be selected at random from attendees’ previously submitted materials and put on an overhead projector for all to read. Featuring: Trisha de Guzman, Serene Hakim & Cynthia Leitich Smith; moderated by Arely Guzman
C. Illustrated Books and Nonfiction Track
The Life Cycle of A Picture Book: It can take years to publish a picture book. Gulp! An author, illustrator, editor, and designer talk about the life cycle of a picture book. Featuring: Aram Kim, Carole Lindstrom, Mekisha Telfer, Duncan Tonatiuh; moderated by Minh Le
11:00am - 12:30pm
D. Intensives Track
Middle Grade and YA Novels: The Emotional Journey with Eileen Robinson
What triggers us to feel when we read? How is that emotional connection sustained over the course of a novel? Since novels are longer than picture books, you may think you have time to pull readers in. You don’t.
So how do you elicit emotion from the start, and build an emotional arc that ebbs and flows for the length of the story? Does word choice, sentence length, punctuation, pacing, rhythm and tone play a part? Sure they do. But there has to be something more courageous at work—your heart.
We’ll read some examples of emotion, examining how different levels of emotion are created. We’ll talk about the emotional arc and how to tackle yours (we’ll do this hands-on, so bring a manuscript!) We'll also talk about the power of motivation, fear and vulnerability, secrets, etc—where that comes from and how your own personal truth and experience can help you create a story that resonates with you and your readers.
12:00pm - 12:45pm
A. Publishing Track
On Chapter Books & Early Readers
Featuring: Susan Muaddi Darraj, Debbi Michiko Florence, Andrea Rogers & Renee Watson; moderated by Joanna Cárdenas
B. Novel Track
Books to Film: Three debut novelists whose books were optioned for film will play quasi-screenwriters in this fun session on character and plot. Using the book vs. the film adaptations of The Hate U Give, A Wrinkle in Time and Love, Simon as jumping off points for discussion, the authors will come up with three new openings for the film adaptations of their books, decide which of their little darlings they will kill off AND MORE. Featuring: Angeline Boulley and Adib Khorram; moderated by Brian Lee Young
C. Illustrated Books and Nonfiction Track
Hidden Figures: Picture Book Biographies. Authors will share their approach to telling the true stories of Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman, the first African American, and the first Native American woman pilot in the 1920s; Jovita Valdovinos, a revolutionary that dressed like a man and took up arms to fight for religious freedom during Mexico’s Cristero War (1925-35); and Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, one of three women to play professionally in baseball’s Negro Leagues in the 1950s. Featuring: Nikki Grimes, Leah Henderson, Cheryl Hudson & Aida Salazar; moderated by Kandace Coston
12:45pm - 1:15pm
Break for Lunch
1:15pm
ZOOM CHECK-IN
1:30pm - 3:00pm
D. Intensives Track
Revise, Rethink and Re-See: Tips for Making Your Picture Book Come Alive with Kelly Starling Lyons
Creating a picture book is a journey. Writing a draft is just the first step. Revision is where you make your story dance and sing so that it's no longer just words on the page, but a full-bodied experience that lives in readers' minds. In this workshop, we'll examine mentor texts for tips on picture book magic and discuss ways to make your story shine.
1:30pm - 2:15pm
A. Publishing Track
Ask Me Anything: Three industry professionals will answer the questions you always wanted to know about marketing & publicity, agenting, and editing but were afraid to ask. Featuring Jenny Choy, Wendi Gu and Tiffany Liao; moderated by Leah Henderson
B. Novel Track
In Verse: Three authors and one editor discuss their process of writing and editing novels-in-verse and memoirs-in-verse. During the panel discussion, they will answer the craft questions no one has ever asked them, from the research that goes into lines on the page in free verse, to the concrete steps they take to render the emotional truth. Featuring: Eric Gansworth, Nikki Grimes, Nick Thomas & Padma Venkatraman; moderated by Aida Salazar
C. Illustrated Books and Nonfiction Track
Storyboard That! Panelists will discuss their storyboarding process and share storyboards from their picture books and/or graphic novels. Featuring: Raul The Third, Minh Le, Nilah Magruder & Sheetal Sheth; moderated by Michaela Goade
2:30pm - 3:15pm
A. Publishing Track
Intersectional Identity. In this panel, authors lean in on intersectionality and matters of race, class, gender, and identity explored in their works of art.
Featuring: Darcie Little Badger, Daniel Nayeri, Padma Venkatraman & Renee Watson; moderated by Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich
B. Novel Track
The Dark Fantastic
Featuring: Diana Abu Jaber, Roshani Chokshi, Kwame Mbalia & Karen Strong; moderated by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
C. Illustrated Books and Nonfiction Track
First Look Clinic. In this largely “illustrative” version of First Pages, a distinguished panel of author/ illustrators will look at illustrations & snippets of text for picture books and graphic novels, and offer advice on improving and publishing your work. Attendees must have submitted their work ahead of the conference. Featuring: Cozbi Cabrera, Michaela Goade, Nilah Magruder & Tamar Mays; moderated by Eileen Robinson
3:30pm - 4:15pm
A. Publishing Track
Disrupting the System: Making change in the kidlit publishing industry. Featuring: Serene Hakim, Wade Hudson, Arthur Levine, Cynthia Leitich-Smith, Mekisha Telfer, Phoebe Yeh; moderated by Namrata Tripathi
4:30pm - 5:30pm
Reading and Closing Keynote by Linda Sue Park
5:30pm - 6:00pm
Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich and Leah Henderson
Click here for details on the conference presenters.
Click here for listing of accommodations near Barnard College.
Click here for Frequently Asked Questions.
CO-SPONSORED AND HOSTED BY
SPONSORS
Victoria Sanders & Associates
John N. Blackman Sr. Foundation
