Zetta Elliott's Blog, page 119

tea time

I had planned to go shopping yesterday so that I could show up at my book talk wearing something spring-y and cute…but I was tired yesterday, so I dug through my closet and wore whatever I found there.  I hate shopping, but when you're giving a talk to teachers, you want to look artsy yet respectable.  I arrived early, had some mint tea (which was being served by a member of the Twinings family!), and then played a new board game with Susan, a librarian.  Mingling isn't what I do best, so...

free speech

I didn't wake up with a migraine today, but I am a little under the weather…I'm not used to talking much—are all writers like that?  I'm used to spending most of my time alone, in my head, though I love hanging out with friends.  Trouble is, I usually need time to "recover" from my limited social outings, and this weekend I had to be "on" all the time.  But it was *so* worth it!  I remember my sister once suggested that I join a runners group, and I replied, "Why would I do that?  I don't...

Empire state of mind…

This was a full weekend!  On Saturday I took the train up to Albany for the Empire State Book Festival, and the next day Lyn and I drove down to Philly for the Mt. Airy Book Festival.  On Saturday we had a large crowd—more than 50 people!  And all copies of Wish were sold, I think.  In Philly, we had a much smaller turnout but it was still a lovely, sunny day and I got to spend time with my friend, Marie–and Neesha, Lyn, and Gbemi!  Many thanks to all the folks who worked so hard to make...

Crown Heights Oral History Project

A while back I had the opportunity to meet with the lovely young women who are part of the Crown Heights Oral History Project.  Yesterday three teens were shot in Crown Heights, so it's heartening to see these teens honoring the community's elders under the guidance of coordinator, Alex Kelly:

About Our Project

WHAT? We will record over 60 conversations between us and people who have lived in Crown Heights, Brooklyn for over 15 years. We plan to donate these interviews to Brooklyn Historical...

tune in

With so much stupidity and negativity on TV these days, it's easy to just tune out…I find I'm turning off the TV more often and turning on NPR, and sometimes I turn it all off and just enjoy the silence…

This morning I have some great reasons for you to tune back in:

My friend Rosa pointed me to this fabulous black feminist blog: The Crunk Feminist Collective .  Be sure to read their review of Tyler Perry's latest poc (piece of crap)Colleen over at Chasing Ray has a great post up about the new

upcoming events

If you're going to be near Albany this weekend, why not check out the Empire State Book Festival?  I'll be on a panel with some fabulous YA authors:

3:45 PM – 4:30 PMChildren's & YA Books of History – Fact and Fiction

Meeting Room 1

Hear how a panel of distinguished writers of historical fact and fiction make it work for the audience they are targeting. One writes historical fiction from an American Indian perspective while another author is in search of real daredevils!
Speakers:
Joseph Bruchac

numbers don't lie–do they?

Ok, so now that I've compiled this list of books published in Canada, it's time for the analysis.  I have to begin by saying I am truly heartened by the number of books about black people that are available for children in Canada today.  Of course, I don't know if all of the books I listed are available in all schools and public libraries, but any parent who's looking for black books in Canada should be able to find *something* for their child to read.  Will that book about blacks be written ...

Black Canadian children's literature ~ the stats

Math is not my favorite subject, so compiling statistics is not going to be fun…and it's going to take a long time, I think, because right now I'm going by books that have been reviewed in Canada's leading children's literature journal, CM.  But I know from experience that not all books GET reviewed.  So that means contacting Canadian publishers directly and asking them to submit data on their books by and about black people.  This morning I made a list of books (published in Canada since...

consensus

Have you filled out your census form?  I hope so!  I've been thinking about consensus today, and how easy it is for others to dismiss a single point of view.  Clearly, the way I feel about multiculturalism in Canada is based on my personal experiences and the limited reading I've done on the subject.  Recently I found this essay delivered by scholar Rinaldo Walcott at a conference held last fall at York University in Toronto: MULTI-CULTURALISM AND ITS DISCONTENTS.   I first met Rinaldo when I...

Ain't they black!

"Ain't they black!"

Negotiating Blackness and Borders

in Canadian Young Adult Literature

Last fall I reached my tipping point.  After spending just one year as a fledgling member of the kidlit blogosphere, I poured my accumulated rage and frustration into an open letter to the children's publishing industry.  How could it be that with two black girls now living in the White House, African and African American authors are credited with less than 2% of the five thousand books published for...