Zetta Elliott's Blog, page 110
July 29, 2010
poems for all seasons
So I'm trying out covers for my book of poems—do you like the blue background? Shadra suggested green; I'm wondering about yellow…but do like the cool of blue…I've got about 70 poems so far and would like to reach 100. I feel like the haiku are a bit somber—if these are for kids (middle graders) there ought to be at least some whimsy, some fun…
meet Summer Edward!
A few months ago I had the pleasure of meeting Summer Edward; she kindly agreed to review Wish, and then opened my eyes to the challenges facing members of the children's publishing industry in the Caribbean. We'll spend the next couple of days getting to know this blogger/scholar and her views on Caribbean children's literature…
Introduce us to Summer Edward—who are you, and how/why did you start blogging?
For the purposes of this interview, I'm a writer, blogger, Caribbean children's...
July 28, 2010
you MUST read this book!
I've been thinking about excellence lately…how to promote it, how it's constructed. There's an ongoing conversation around making black-authored books "universal," a term generally reserved for the culture and experiences of the dominant group (whites). Author Carleen Brice has a great round-up on her blog, White Readers Meet Black Authors. Even though I know it's wrong, I sometimes find myself worrying about the black-authored books recommended to white readers. A book that gets a lot...
July 26, 2010
get to know Tim Wise
If you aren't yet familiar with the anti-racist work of Tim Wise, I hope you'll watch this video and/or spend some time on his blog. I was watching Book TV this weekend and caught the Q&A that followed Tim's reading of his latest book, Color Blind. When he came to my school a few years back, I agreed to cancel my class so that my students could attend his talk. But I didn't go—"This is work white folks need to do on their own," I reasoned. I should have gone…All anti-racist activists of c...
July 23, 2010
YAAM!
Did you know it's Young Adult Appreciation Month over at The Book Smugglers? Today I'll be writing haiku, but soon I'll be writing a guest post for YAAM; I'm one of several authors invited to participate, and I'm thrilled that Ana and Thea will be doing a joint review of Wish! Today there's a review and giveaway of Cory Doctorow's For the Win…check it out!
My next book report will be The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, which I am LOVING…just had brunch with a friend and tried to explain the plot ...
July 22, 2010
check the rhyme
Coming up on August 8th I'll be a guest on poet/publisher DuEwa Frazier's web radio show, Rhymes, Views & News. I first met DuEwa a few years ago when she accepted a couple of my poems for her anthology, Check the Rhyme: An Anthology of Female Poets and Emcees. The book went on to earn a nomination for an NAACP Image Award! Do check out more of DuEwa's books from her press, LitNoire Publishing.
I'm working on a book of poems for children, and that means I spent most of yesterday sifting...
July 21, 2010
for our daughters
Yesterday I was interviewed for an upcoming film, For Our Daughters. When the producer, Eric McKay, asked me to participate—I tried to get out of it! I've never been in a film, and after watching the above clip with its reference to the matriarchy MYTH, I was pretty sure my opinion as a black feminist wouldn't really be valued. But Eric persisted, and I finally agreed, and the lovely Deloris McCullough offered us some space in the beautiful youth wing of the BPL's central branch. I seem t...
July 20, 2010
The UK Publishing Equalities Charter
During our panel at the Harlem Book Fair, I talked about the UK Publishing Equalities Charter, which is our best chance (I think) for reversing the widespread inequity in the US publishing industry. I was hoping to interview Shelina Permalloo, Development Manager at DIPNET, but someone beat me to it so I'm going to share this link instead. Go there to read the entire interview, and read below to get a sense of how this charter would work:
How did DIPNET get started?DIPNET was established in...
July 19, 2010
summer pix
Friday started out strong: I ran some errands and then got to Penn Station in time to meet Edi (right) and Doret (center)—two of my favorite bloggers and longtime online friends! They were in town for the National Diversity in Libraries Conference at Princeton University; visit Amy's SLJ blog to learn more. This was our first time meeting in person, but as we talked about books over lunch at Miss Mamie's Spoonbread Too in Harlem, I felt like we'd known each other forever…next stop: Hue-Man...
hands ON!
Yesterday was my workshop at the Studio Museum in Harlem—it was expertly-organized with lots of employees in red Target t-shirts on hand to make sure everything flowed smoothly. But what impressed me most were the parents who showed up in force, determined to expose their children to books and art. In some ways it seems like a no-brainer: we're stuck in an endless heat wave; you've got little ones who need to be kept cool AND entertained….so why not come out to the local air-conditioned...
