Or…so close, but yet so far away!
I’m waiting for the Colts to make this touchdown and tie up the game. At the same time, I’m wondering why so few of the
blogs I”ve caught up with today have mentioned anything about the public libraries in Santa Clarita, CA that have been taken over by a private company. This, to me goes against everything libraries have come to stand for in this country. Talk about freedom of speech? free access to information? We’re getting so far away!
I free associate a lot. I don’t know if I’m seeing patterns and creating relationships or if all I’m doing is finding a way to make it about me. Earlier this afternoon, I was listening to Splendid Table in NPR during which the host mentioned there was a time when there a few sources necessary to follow to know what was going on in the culinary world. Naturally, that made me think about the world of multicultural literature and then wonder: who are the go to people when it comes to POC books, particularly for teens of color? Who are the people who know (personally, please) upcoming and established authors, can list (and contact) the publishers and editors , who publish regularly themselves, who identify trends and are able to affect the market? Who is leading and representing the literary world as it relates to POC teens?
The Colts scored but lost by a field goal.
Are there leaders in this niche? There are certainly followers. Sounds like 3rd and inches.
Cotton Quilts Edi 
I’m going to ask those questions at the A is for Anansi conference; I’m reading Brown Gold (my friend got a copy from her campus library for me!) and the author feels this is the “golden age” of black children’s literature in part b/c there are now a number of academics studying the field critically. But studying and advocating aren’t the same…what impact does scholarship have on the field? on the industry itself? tracking trends is important, but it still feels remote to me. One of my panelists is Kafilah McCurdy, who edits a journal I’d never heard of: The Journal of African American Children’s Literature…
LikeLike
Wow, this is the first time I’ve heard about LSSI. They say they are called in to fix broken library systems, so when they have “fixed” them; do they turn them back over to the county or city, or do they retain permanent control? I’m not finding that anywhere on their website.
As far as publishers or leaders in the POC area, I really don’t know how influential they are, but I like Lee & Low Books, which focuses solely on POC books for early and middle readers. They’ve also recently acquired Tu Books, which publishes POC Science Fiction. I also like that they have a New Voices award, which awards a publication contract to a new writer of color.
LikeLike
dePizan,
It would be interesting to get the real scoop on that rather than reading about an event in CA in a NY newspaper. I hope the city council really gets their money’s worth out of that deal.
Zetta,
Please do ask! I do agree that a plethera of academics doesn’t necessarily create a golden age. To me, the golden age of children’s lit was Virginia Hamilton, Walter Dean Myers, Mildred Taylor… and they’re mainly children’s authors. I don’t know if YA has hit it’s stride yet.I think there is a growing movement with various groups, but it hasn’t generated much power, yet. I do feel that YA lit is one of the few areas in this country where there is truly a dialog among people of color,well among the workers. I’m not sure about the movers and shakers, but who are those people? Is there a clear leadership? But, that’s just what I think and I’m really new here.
LikeLike