Fellow African American children’s author, Urania Smith, teamed with me, B A Binns, to sponsor three diverse authors to attend the 2016 Illinois SCBWI conference, Prairie Writers and Illustrators Day (PWID) coming up on Saturday, November 5 at Harper College in Palatine, Ill. Urania and I both want to see ways to see more authors from marginalized groups succeed in the children’s book industry. As always, I believe education is an important key to success, and I know many marginalized authors and illustrators have difficulty funding education efforts. That’s why I chose to seek out future #ownvoices to attend this important conference and education opportunity.
In preparation for the conference, I am letting the contest winners share their feeling about the event. First up will be Jill Kaunfung from Illinois. In her post coming up on Thursday (10-27) she will talk about her draft manuscript, Freely & the Wolf, a mixed-race retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, where a red-cloaked girl of color relies on strength from her ancestors to stand up to the white wolf who threatens to erase her history.
I already want to read that story.
Don’t forget, there’s still time to register to attend PWIDRegistration closes on October 29, 2016.