Brown Bookshelf Opens Submissions for 2009 28 Days Later Campaign When The Brown Bookshelf (BBS), a website designed to push awareness of the myriad of African American voices writing for young readers, launched last Fall, the founders knew they were filling a void. But the authors, Varian Johnson, Paula Chase, Carla Sarratt, and Kelly Starling [ Read the full article… ]
Co-ed Author Team Works to Highlight African American Children’s Authors (Severna Park , MD ) YA authors, Paula Chase and Varian Johnson have never met in person. One lives in Maryland, the other in Texas. One is a spokesperson for a small city government, the other designs bridges. But they share two things in common: [ Read the full article… ]
“You had me at hello!” That’s what I said to Paula on 9.19.07 when she sent me an e-mail asking me to consider an invitation to join The Brown Bookshelf. Honestly, there was never anything to consider. I knew from conversations with Paula that she would not be a part of anything that would be [ Read the full article… ]
When Varian first explained to me the concept behind the Brown Bookshelf — to highlight other African American writers and illustrators of children’s literature — I was ecstatic. Chills rolled down my back as I read his invitation to serve as a committee member. I don’t say that for dramatic flair, I really had goosebumps. [ Read the full article… ]
Tanisia “Tee” Moore ain’t just your average storyteller—she’s the heartbeat of African American narratives, lovingly dubbed “your family’s favorite author.” Whether she’s crafting tales for the young under her own name or diving into adult contemporary romance as Nisia Roye, Tee’s stories are woven with the rich tapestry of Black culture and life lessons that [ Read the full article… ]
Sarah Raughley is the Nigerian-Canadian author of The Effigies Series, The Bones of Ruin Trilogy and The Queen’s Spade. A finalist of the Aurora Award, Raughley is also an English professor and public intellectual who has written for journals such as The Walrus, CBC, and Teen Vogue. Her creative work is inspired by a confluence of experiences, from being [ Read the full article… ]
Jennifer Baker is an author and editor/project manager with over 20 years’ experience in book publishing. She’s also the creator/host of the Minorities in Publishing podcast, and has been a faculty member at Bay Path University’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction and The City College of New York. In 2019, she was named Publishers Weekly Superstar [ Read the full article… ]
