Cynthia Leitich Smith's Blog, page 69

SCBWI Books for Readers Increases Book Access

Omar Bah, director of the Refugee Dream Center
with Lin Oliver, SCBWI executive directorBy Gayleen Rabakukk
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

Back in April I interviewed Lin Oliver, executive director of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators about the organization's new initiative: Books for Readers.

“In the U.S., many low-income communities have as few as 1 book per 300 children. We as an organization would like to help change this,” she said. “With our initiative, we can...

Cynsations News

By Cynthia Leitich Smith,
Gayleen Rabakukk & Robin Galbraith
for Cynsations

Author Insights

Best Books of 2017: Ibi Zoboi by Alex Heimbach from Kirkus Reviews. Peek:

“When Ibi Zoboi's family moved from Haiti to Bushwick, Brooklyn, they found that the change wasn’t as positive as they’d hoped. ‘Sometimes if we’re trying to leave somewhere broken, we’re moving into somewhere that’s even more broken,’ Zoboi says." 

Bestseller Angie Thomas on Writing, Bestsellerdom, and Diversit...

New Voice: Lisa Bunker on Felix Yz

By Gayleen Rabakukk
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

Lisa Bunker is the debut author of Felix Yz (Viking, 2017). From the promotional copy:

“If it wasn’t for the fused-with-Zyx thing, I suppose I would just be normal—whatever that means.”

When Felix Yz was three years old, a hyperintelligent fourth-dimensional being became fused inside him after one of his father’s science experiments went terribly wrong. 

The creature is friendly, but Felix—now thirteen—won’t be able to grow to adulth...

Guest Post: Lyn Miller-Lachmann on Literature in Translation as Empowering Own Voices

By Lyn Miller-Lachmann
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

Before becoming a translator, I wrote historical fiction set in part in Chile, a country I knew from working with exiles who had fled the Pinochet dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s as well as with musicians inside the country who were working underground to restore democracy.

In addition to my knowledge gained from personal relationships and spending time in Chile, I read works of fiction and nonfiction by Chilean authors, in the or...

Guest Post: Janni Lee Simner on Setbacks & The Writing Journey

By Janni Lee Simner
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

In writing, as in many professions, there's a lot of emphasis on getting that one big break.

This is the story we tell about writers: that we slave away for months or years or decades and then—at last!—that first story or first novel sells. Our career is launched, and we ride off into the sunset, where we happily keep writing and selling our work forever.

That's a good story. There's a reason we're drawn to it. And very rarely...

Survivors: Monica Brown on Thriving as a Long-Time, Actively Publishing Children's Author

Learn more about Monica Brown.By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

In children’s-YA writing, maintaining an active publishing career is arguably an even bigger challenge than breaking into the field.

Reflecting on your personal journey (creatively, career-wise, and your writer’s heart), what bumps did you encounter and how have you managed to defy the odds to achieve continued success?

I think the bumps I've encountered have come both from within and without. The publishing industry is consta...

Cynsations News

By Cynthia Leitich Smith,
Gayleen Rabakukk & Robin Galbraith
for Cynsations

Author/Illustrator Insights 

Art, Selfishness & the Sinking Ship by Anne Nesbet from Project Mayhem. Peek: "The very language we use to talk about writing (those of us who aren't full-time writers--or those of us who have families to take care of) is telling: we 'steal time,' or we 'sneak in some words.' Lurking in these phrases is the idea that we are somehow cheating when we write...."

J.L. Powers and Broken...

Tim Tingle Named 2018 Recipient of Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award

By Gayleen Rabakukk
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

Earlier this week the Oklahoma Center for the Book announced Tim Tingle as the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award winner for 2018.

The award honoring a body of work contributing to Oklahoma’s literary heritage, was named for Oklahoma historian Arrell Gibson, who served as the first president of the Oklahoma Center for the Book.

Tim is an award-winning author and storyteller and citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. His gre...

In Memory: Sheila Barry

Photo courtesy of Heather Camlot; used with permission.By Melanie Fishbane
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

On the 21st of November, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre held its annual Canadian Children’s Book Awards, an evening devoted to awarding the best in children’s literature. Among the always decadent dishes and clinking glasses, there was feeling that something was missing—or someone.

A little less than a week before, on the 15th of November, Groundwood’s publisher, Sheila Barry,...

Survivors: Shutta Crum on Thriving as a Long-Time, Actively Publishing Children's Author

Learn more about Shutta Crum.By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

In children’s-YA writing, maintaining an active publishing career is arguably an even bigger challenge than breaking into the field.

Reflecting on your personal journey (creatively, career-wise, and your writer’s heart), what bumps did you encounter and how have you managed to defy the odds to achieve continued success?

Well, the first big bump was wasting approximately eighteen years before I really buckled down and educated m...