The Colorful Week

Share your own color me brown links. These can be links having to do with any issue regarding race and/or literature. Reviews, interviews, guest posts, podcasts, etc.




Zetta shared the press release about the Carl Brandon Society's fundraiser. Raffle tickets cost $1

The Carl Brandon Society, an organization dedicated to racial and
ethnic diversity in speculative fiction, will hold a prize drawing of
five eReaders to benefit the Butler Scholarship, a fund that sends two
emerging writers of color to the Clarion writers workshops annually.

In keeping with the Society’s support of literature from and about
people of color, the prizes include five eReaders: two Barnes & Noble
Nooks, two Kobo Readers, and one Alex eReader from Spring Design. Each
eReader will come pre-loaded with books, short stories and essays by
writers of color from the speculative fiction field. Writers include:
N. K. Jemisin, Nisi Shawl, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Terence Taylor, Ted
Chiang, Shweta Narayan, Chesya Burke, Moondancer Drake, Saladin Ahmed,
Rochita Loenen-Ruiz and more.

This is a about a weke old but the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana has compiled a shortlist of Mock-Coretta Scott King Book Awards. I encourage everyone to check out the list and add their own suggestions in the comments.

Another older post (found courtesy of White Readers Meet Black Authors), Five Young Black Writers You Should Be Reading Now

"African-American Fiction." Wouldn't it make more sense for these titles to be divided by genre? Classics among classics, erotic fiction with erotic fiction, and "street lit" -- well, it should have a section all its own. Still, despite the preponderance of so-called urban fiction crowding the shelves at your local Borders, there is a vital canon of contemporary African-American literature, with writers like ZZ Packer, Colson Whitehead and Victor LaValle all releasing heralded titles in recent years.

Coming up behind those darlings of the literary establishment is a new wave of young, gifted and black writers getting rave reviews, publishing deals and even a few national tours. Nick Burd, Danielle Evans, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Ernessa Carter and Gary Jackson are five writers who have all written accomplished debuts, penning stories and plays and poetry that are both literary and provocative. All have distinctive voices and write on myriad themes.

Doret interviewed MG/YA author Lisa Yee

4. Its obivous a lot of care went into all the of the characters. Santat's illustrations are great. The facial expressions are always spot on perfect (even the gnome and the fish on the cover)

Its not easy finding middle grade novels (fantasy not included) with male protagonist for ages 8 up. With the artwork, short chapters and stories less then 180 pages, this series is geared toward children beginning to read longer novels.

Did you know this middle grade void existed? Did you consciously set out to help fill it?

I had no idea there was a void in this category until after I had written the first book! I just wanted to write something that my son would have loved to read when he was in the fourth grade--and actually the series was his idea.

He said to me, "Why don't you write a book with not a lot of commotion, like that Cleary woman." Of course he meant the great Beverly Cleary. So I set about to write something about the ups and downs of elementary school, with no vampires, epic battles, or weapons.

The Ninja Librarian reviews YA-set-in-the-'70s Finding My Place by Traci L. Jones

This is the story of a girl who has to switch schools because of her parents' jobs. The kicker is that she's a black girl who is moving into a predominately white neighborhood during a time when people were just starting to accept each other. This is a quick little book that just gives you a taste of what life might have been like.

Being the new girl in school is one thing, but realizing that everyone (even the teachers) may be against your from the get go? That's an insane thought, but it was a reality at one point. And it amazes me to think about the close-mindedness of that time. I get a little upset sometimes when I realize how people used to treat each other just because of their skin color. But then I have to remember how far this country has come - I live in the most diverse county in the country and I can't image my days without all the people working together.

Get to linking!