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FREE | In conversation with New York Times Best Selling Author Renee Watson
September 22, 2022 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm EDT
Free
In conversation with New York Times Best Selling Author Renee Watson. Discussing her two new books, “Maya’s Song and Ways to Share Joy”.
About this event
Virtual Event with Renee Watson – One Week Two New Books
Thursday Sept 22, 2022 at 4 PM PST
Join Malik Books virtual event in the comfort of your home or office as we have a conversation with New York Times Best Selling and award winning Author Renee Watson. Discussing her two new books, “Maya’s Song and Ways to Share Joy” (Ryan Hart Story #3). Renee Watson has written over 18 books . This September two new books will be released.
Maya’s Song
From bestselling, award-winning creators Renée Watson and Bryan Collier comes a stunningly crafted picture book chronicling the life of poet and activist Maya Angelou.
This unforgettable picture book introduces young readers to the life and work of Maya Angelou, whose words have uplifted and inspired generations of readers. The author of the celebrated autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya was the first Black person and first woman to recite a poem at a presidential inauguration, and her influence echoes through culture and history. She was also the first Black woman to appear on the United States quarter.
Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Award winner Renée Watson uses Angelou’s beloved medium of poetry to lyrically chronicle her rich life in a deeply moving narrative. Vivid and striking collage art by Caldecott Honor recipient and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winner Bryan Collier completes this unforgettable portrait of one of the most important American artists in history.
Maya’s momma was right.
Maya was a preacher, a teacher.
A Black girl whose voice
chased away darkness, ushered in light.
Ways to Share Joy” (Ryan Hart Story #3)
Ryan Hart is caught in the middle. She has an older brother and a new baby sister, and she’s in a friendship tug-of-war with two friends who both want to be her best best friend. How can Ryan think about being kind to a classmate who is relentless with his teasing? Or be her signature sunny self when her brother, Ray, pulls the ultimate prank?
But even when it seems like nothing is going her way, Ryan still looks for a way to see the bright side of things, refusing to let anything steal her joy, and finding ways to share it with everyone she meets.
Acclaim for Ways to Make Sunshine:
A New York Times Best Children’s Book of the Year | A Parents Magazine Best Book of the Year | A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year | A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year | A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year | A WORLD Magazine Best Book of the Year | An Amazon Best Book of the Year.
About Renee Watson
Renée Watson is a New York Times bestselling author, educator, and community activist. Her young adult novel, Piecing Me Together (Bloomsbury, 2017) received a Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Honor. Her children’s picture books and novels for teens have received several awards and international recognition. She has given readings and lectures at many renown places including the United Nations, the Library of Congress, and the U.S. Embassy in Japan and New Zealand. Her poetry and fiction centers around the experiences of Black girls and women, and explores themes of home, identity, and the intersections of race, class, and gender.
Her books include young adult novels, Love is a Revolution, Piecing Me Together, This Side of Home, and Watch Us Rise, co-written with Ellen Hagan. Her middle grade novels include the Ryan Hart series, (Ways to Make Sunshine and Ways to Grow Love), Some Places More Than Others, Betty Before X, co-authored with Ilyasah Shabazz, and What Momma Left Me. Her picture book, Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills received several honors including an NAACP Image Award nomination in children’s literature.
One of Renée’s passions is using the arts to help youth cope with trauma and discuss social issues. Her picture book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen is based on poetry workshops she facilitated with children in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Renée was a writer in residence for over twenty years teaching creative writing and theater in public schools and community centers throughout the nation. She founded I, Too Arts Collective, a nonprofit that was housed in the home of Langston Hughes from 2016-2019. Watson is on the Council of Writers for the National Writing Project and is a member of the Academy of American Poets’ Education Advisory Council. She is also a writer-in-residence at The Solstice Low-Residency Creative Writing Program of Pine Manor College.
Renée grew up in Portland, Oregon, and splits her time between Portland and New York City.
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The Valley of Writers team scours the web looking for the most inspiring, elevating, and accessible events that we can share as a service to our readers.
The big idea is that in a virtual arena, more people can participate. Geographical boundaries matter less.
The events we list are virtual and can be attended by writers from wherever they are in the world.
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What qualifies an event as ‘lit’? Any event that we think would teach writers of fiction, memoir, and poetry useful skills, inspire them to produce great work, remind them of the power of this work we do and build stronger, mutually beneficial ties between writers and other creatives.
