Appropriate Cultural Appropriation - A Thoughtful Article by Nisi Shawl

Listed at the Children's Book Council's Diversity Resources for Writers page, this article by Nisi Shawl, Appropriate Cultural Appropriation is well-worth reading.

A highlight:

"Rather than looking at a binary choice between (mis)appropriating a culture and avoiding its mention, we can consider a spectrum of roles it’s possible for transcultural writers and readers to play.

We can examine works in which authors have attempted to write about, or extrapolate from, another person’s culture for ways in which they succeed or fail.

We can question and reground our desire to write about other cultures."

Among those important questions:

Are we approaching another culture as an invader? A tourist? A guest?

What's "the best point of view from which to recount a transcultural tale"?

Are we honoring the value of things like "ideas, beliefs, customs, paradigms, and other non-physical artifacts"?

There's so much to consider. Read the full article here.

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

kiBooka - A Resource Celebrating Books for Kids and Teens by Korean Americans (and Korean Diaspora)

A celebration of children's literature by Korean Americans and Koreans living outside Korea, the kiBooka website was created by Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park. The idea is to list books traditionally published in English by Korean American and Korean diaspora creators, grouped under "Picture Books," "Middle Grade", and "Young Adult."

As of writing this, the kiBooka site lists 33 picture books:

A screenshot of the picture book page on the kiBooka website

12 middle grade titles:

A screenshot of the middle grade page on the kiBooka website

And 17 young adult books:

A screenshot of the young adult page on the kiBooka website

And those lists will keep growing! As Linda Sue wrote on the website's About page, 

"This kiBooka website is a source of great happiness for me. When my career began more than 20 years ago, there were very few creators of Korean ancestry publishing in the US—it would have been a forlorn site indeed! I’m excited about the talented writers and artists whose books are now available, and hope you will enjoy learning about them and their work." — Linda Sue Park

In this interview by Stephani Martinell Eaton on Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations blog, Linda Sue Park speaks with six creators (Janet Wong, Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Paula Yoo, Aram Kim, Helena Ku Rhee, and Chris Soentpiet) about what kiBooka "means for them professionally and personally." 

They speak of how more than a list, kiBooka represents a gathering of community.

If you'd like your upcoming book featured on the kiBooka website, you'll find details on submitting here.

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

Are You Ready for the BIG FIVE-OH? The SCBWI Summer Conference Celebrates SCBWI's 50th Anniversary! (Registration Opens May 19 at 10am Pacific)

 

July 29-August 2, 2021, Live on Zoom

It's going to be a party, a conference, a connection with community, and so much more! Registration opens TOMORROW May 19, 2021 at 10am Pacific - click here: https://www.scbwi.org/event-summer-conference-2021/

Here's the scoop:

The three main days are July 30, 31 and August 1, with optional events on the day before and the day after, as well as a free bonus peer critique day on August 7. Featuring a super-star faculty of over 50 industry leaders speaking on over 50 topics, the 50th promises to be memorable for all SCBWI members.

We are breaking the mold this year and providing an all-new format. Gone are the hour-long conversations, replaced with over 50 fifteen or thirty-minute keynotes offering concrete and specific advice on all aspects of creating children’s books. Whether you want to learn how to create a graphic novel script or promote your illustrations on social media, how to outline your novel in three easy steps or write a rhyming picture book, there is meaty information for your specific interest. In addition, every session will provide a handout of take-away points and tips, and all sessions will be available to attendees online for a month following the conference. It’s a buffet of fifty plus topics and speakers for you to gorge on, both live and at your leisure.

Each day will also feature a themed mingle so you can get to know some of your fellow attendees. And a series of nightly socials will provide opportunities to connect with like-minded writers and illustrators.

The pre-opening day, July 29, will feature two optional intensives, one called LAUNCHPAD with sessions aimed at new-to-the-field creators who are launching their careers. The second intensive on that day is called PRO DAY, featuring a multitude of practical insider sessions for published authors and illustrators. The final day, August 2, will bring you an intensive for illustrators, which is free to all those who have enrolled in the full conference. Also on that day, we will also have PITCH ROUNDTABLES, where you select an agent or editor and participate in their hour-long pitch session. Each attendee who registers for this day will get seven minutes to pitch their book and get a response from the agent or editor roundtable leader. There is a limit of 900 places in the pitch roundtable day, so if you plan to take advantage of it, please mark the registration date in your calendar and don’t delay signing up.

By the way, the registration date is May 19, opening at 10 a.m. PACIFIC time. (That’s 1 p.m. EASTERN time, and all kinds of other times in other time zones.) Tuition for the main conference is $150. Tuition for the July 29 intensive is $100. (You must pick one and be signed up for the whole conference.). Fee for the Roundtable pitch day is $75. Fee for the portfolio showcase is $75. The Illustrator Intensive is included in your conference registration.

In addition, there is the career-altering Portfolio Showcase with two grand prizes, the opportunity to sell your books in our online conference bookstore, the bonus Peer Critique day (free to all registrants on Saturday, August 7), and a full set of handouts to remind you of all you’ve learned from this once-in-a-lifetime collection of masters in the field.

Over 30 scholarships are available, including many for underrepresented creators.

Here is an alphabetical list of conference speakers, so far:

Kwame Alexander
Elana K. Arnold
Sarah Aronson
Darcie Little Badger
Jessixa Bagley
Claudia Bedrick
Jenny Bent
Sophie Blackall
Valerie Bolling
Alex Borbolla
Regina Brooks
Mahogany Browne
Cozbi A. Cabrera
Kacen Callender
Nancy Carpenter
Nancy Castaldo
Antonio Gonzalez-Cerna
Ruth Chan
Nidhi Chanani
Jenny Choy
Ernesto Cisneros
Lesa Cline-Ransome
Brandy Colbert
Matthew Cordell
Kandace Coston
Mary Claire Cruz
Pat Cummings
Mike Curato
Adriana Dominguez
Elizabeth Dulemba
Kait Feldmann
Feather Flores
Marla Frazee
Saho Fujii
Nikki Giovanni
Nikki Grimes
Shannon Hale
Kirsten Hall
Deborah Halverson
Vashti Harrison
Leah Henderson
Saritza Hernandez
Zara Gonzalez Hoang
Tiffany D. Jackson
Milena Jahier
Allyn Johnston
Cecile Kaiser
Naz Kutub
Tricia Lawrence
Minh Le
Arthur Levine
Tiff Liao
Malinda Lo
Melissa Manlove
Barbara Marcus
Janae Marks
Alice McGinty
Torrey Maldonado
Heather Montgomery
Yuyi Moralesv Erin Murphy
Michelle Nagler
Daniel Nayeri
Debbie Ridpath Ohi
Lin Oliver
Linda Sue Park
Hallie Patterson
Darcy Pattison
Ann Whitford Paul
Erica Perl
Beth Phelan
Tanusri Prasanna
James Ransome
John Rocco
Nadia Salomon
Dan Santat
Tammi Sauer
Gary Schmidt
Heather E. Schwartz
Karol Ruth Silverstein
Ronald L. Smith
Christina Soontornvat
Traci Sorell
Nova Ren Suma
Jennifer Swanson
Shaun Tan
Brent Taylor
Aiden Thomas
Brittany J. Thurman
Jennifer Vassel
Padma Venkatraman
Lisa Yee
Phoebe Yeh
Paula Yoo

We hope you'll join us for this online happening!

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On!
Lee

Register Now For "Celebrating Asian Voices" - Free for SCBWI Members

This is going to be awesome! SCBWI #OwnVoices: Celebrating Asian Voices will take place on Thursday May 20, from 1pm-2pm Pacific.

Six children's book creators will discuss the role their Asian or Pacific Islander identity plays in the writing and art they create as well as the importance of overcoming stereotypes and providing positive representation.

The amazing panelists will be:

Julie Abe

Julie writes middle grade fantasy and YA romance, with the most recent book out being book two in the series, Eva Evergreen and the Cursed Witch

Eva Evergreen has fulfilled her dream of earning the rank of Novice Witch, and discovered the chilling truth behind the mysterious Culling -- the violent magical storm wreaking havoc across Rivelle Realm.

Revealing the truth, however, proves to be a difficult task and soon the culprit is at large. To make matters worse Eva learns what might be the horrible truth behind her pinch of magic and her mother's own mysterious connection to the Culling and rogue magic.

With her spirits at an all-time low, Eva must muster up the courage to prove her mother's innocence and learn to believe in her own magic, if she wishes to put a stop to the Culling once and for all.

Samira Ahmed

Samira's latest book is Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know

It’s August in Paris and 17-year-old Khayyam Maquet—American, French, Indian, Muslim—is at a crossroads. This holiday with her parents should be a dream trip for the budding art historian. But her maybe-ex-boyfriend is probably ghosting her, she might have just blown her chance at getting into her dream college, and now all she really wants is to be back home in Chicago figuring out her messy life instead of brooding in the City of Light.

Two hundred years before Khayyam’s summer of discontent, Leila is struggling to survive and keep her true love hidden from the Pasha who has “gifted” her with favored status in his harem. In the present day—and with the company of a descendant of Alexandre Dumas—Khayyam begins to connect allusions to an enigmatic 19th-century Muslim woman whose path may have intersected with Alexandre Dumas, Eugène Delacroix, and Lord Byron.

Echoing across centuries, Leila and Khayyam’s lives intertwine, and as one woman’s long-forgotten life is uncovered, another’s is transformed.

Mike Jung

Mike's most recent book is The Boys in the Back Row

Best friends Matt and Eric are hatching a plan for one big final adventure together before Eric moves away: during the marching band competition at a Giant Amusement Park, they will sneak away to a nearby comics convention and meet their idol-a famous comic creator. Without cell phones. Or transportation. Or permission. Of course, their final adventure together is more than just that-really, it’s a way for the boys to celebrate their friendship, and their honest love and support for one another.

Emily X.R. Pan

Author of the New York Times bestseller, The Astonishing Color of After

Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.

Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life.

Alternating between reality and magic, past and present, hope and despair, THE ASTONISHING COLOR OF AFTER is a novel about finding oneself through family history, art, bravery, and love.

Dow Phumiruk

Dow has illustrated picture books including "Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13" and "Maya Lin, Artist-Architect of Light and Lines." Check out illustrator's Dow's website for some amazing art. 

Paula Yoo

Paula's latest book is the nonfiction YA "From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry" 

A groundbreaking portrait of Vincent Chin’s life and death and the civil rights case that took America’s Asian American community to the streets in protest of injustice. Vincent Chin’s legacy inspires today’s generation to continue speaking out and fighting back in solidarity against hatred and racism. Because our history, our stories, our contributions – and our voices – matter.

and the session will be moderated by Alvina Ling, VP and Editor in Chief, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Some details: Any current SCBWI member can register for a workshop. The first 5,000 people to sign up will receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link and instructions on how to attend the webinar live. Once registration has reached the 5,000-person limit, the workshop will be closed. Members who cannot attend live will be able to watch a video recording of the webinar on the SCBWI website twenty-four hours after the conclusion of the event.

Get all the details, and register for the workshop here.

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

SCBWI Translation Hub and Resources

Make sure to bookmark translation.scbwi.org/

A screen shot of the new translation hub at scbwi.org, showing "translator" as one of the professional roles SCBWI members can choose when they self-identify.

It's a new home base for everything translations for kids and teens - there's a list of events, resources, a list-serve, even a critique connection!

There's also a nifty list of interviews with SCBWI Translator members!

Check it all out at: translation.scbwi.org/

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On!
Lee

SCBWI Switzerland Interviews Lawrence Schimel About His Picture Books That Have Been Translated and Published in 23 Different Editions Around The World

Lawrence with translated copies of his picture books featuring kids and their pets from LGBTQ families.

In this excellent interview, SCBWI Switzerland Regional Advisor Elisabeth Norton spoke to Lawrence Schimel about the journey of two of his picture books, Bedtime, Not Playtime! and Early One Morning, translation, book rights, and much more.

One highlight, discussing the four language release in Switzerland (German, French, Italian, and, Rätoromanisch, sometimes also called Romansh or Romansch):

Lawrence: The publisher for these titles in Switzerland is an NGO, Dachverband Regenbogenfamilien, which doesn't normally publish books but knows that books like these were lacking in Switzerland. They had seen on social media as I posted about the 8 previous languages the books had been published in (Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Flemish, Galician, Latvian, Slovenian, and Spanish) and asked if the rights were still available for the Swiss languages, in order to publish them in time for IFED (International Family Equality Day) which is celebrated each year on the first Sunday of May. As a Swiss NGO, they were very aware of the importance of publishing in ALL of the Swiss languages, including Rätoromanisch. I don't know if these are the first LGBTQ books published in Rätoromanisch, but I do believe they're the first LBGTQ kidzbooks published in this language, which is quite an honor!

Go read the full interview here!

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

A Mr. Darcy Rant About Alliterative Names: A Guest Post by Ann Whitford Paul

Picture Book Author Ann Whitford Paul has a great newsletter, where she writes from the point of view of her cat, Mr. Darcy, on issues of craft. In the most recent, Mr. Darcy chases after the all-too-common practice of alliterative names in picture book manuscripts. With Ann's kind permission, here's that essay:

Why do so many picture book manuscripts use alliterative names? Sitting on my writer’s lap, we read them together and whenever she comes across Danny the Donkey, Tony the Tractor, or Zelda the Zebra, she groans so loud I leap away. Imagine an editor’s reaction! Worse than a groan, they will toss the manuscript into the rejection pile.

Why?

Too many people think of children as cute and therefore their characters should be cute. I think children are cute until they tie a bonnet on my head or, even worse, pull my tail. OUCH!

Being young may look fantastic to adults. What’s not to love having your food prepared for you, playing all day, and never having to hold down a job! That doesn’t mean childhood is all ice cream cones, giggles and kisses. There are falls and tears and temper tantrums. Recognize this when considering an alliterative name.

It’s okay to call Donkey, Donkey and Lion, Lion. It’s also okay to name animals. Writers have been doing it forever. Think of Babar, Ferdinand, and Curious George.

Remember in picture books, every word counts. If you name a character Annie Ant, that’s one extra word; two extra words, if you call her Annie the Ant. Those extra words repeated through the manuscript could go to much better use forwarding the action, expressing emotion, and writing lyrically. We lucky authors of picture books have illustrators to let the reader know what creatures our characters are.

I shiver at the thought my writer might have named me Curt the Cat, instead of Mr. Darcy, but she knew better. When you’re naming your charters, I hope you’ll know better, too.

For more of Ann's wisdom on crafting picture books, you might check out her website's resources for writers page and her book, WRITING PICTURE BOOKS: A Hands-On Guide From Story Creation to Publication.

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

A Pep Talk from Author Libba Bray

The remarkable and hysterical Libba Bray recently posted this video pep talk over on Instagram.

I was laughing, and then nodding along at Libba's wisdom:

"As writers, we're always kind of struggling with art versus commerce."

"For me, someone could give me the most commercial idea in the world, and I would run that sucker into a ditch of weird. Without even trying."

"We have to be the writers we are."

and what really, as writers, is a victory. 

Go watch it. Six minutes 12 seconds of awesome.

And then, we should all, like Libba encourages us to:

"Go make that awesome thing you're making. And make it as only you can."

Thanks, Libba!

Illustrate and Translate and Write On,
Lee