In the book you write, “Sometimes it’s harder to notice a place you think you know well…. I had to force myself to look harder and try to see beyond the concept of library that was so latent in my brain.” What is the most surprising thing that you learned about libraries or librarians while … Continue reading Newsmaker: Susan Orlean
What was the inspiration for Corduroy Takes a Bow? Was Corduroy an iconic character for you growing up? He was an iconic character for me, but more so for my daughter Genesis. I would read to her every single night, and that was the book that stuck. I had to read it over and over … Continue reading Newsmaker: Viola Davis
What do you do to make literary criticism approachable? I try to pick books that I think people would enjoy reading, so that’s a start. I try to write about them with enthusiasm and clarity, and I do a few odd things to try and bring in people who are sick and tired of book … Continue reading Newsmaker: Ron Charles
You share some intensely personal experiences in Homecoming King about being the child of an immigrant. Was it hard deciding what to codify into comedy? In a comedy special you have only 70 minutes, so a lot of times you’re working with coffee and you need to boil it down to comedy espresso. I’m trying to … Continue reading Newsmaker: Hasan Minhaj
This year’s theme for School Library Month is “Making Connections at Your School Library.” You’ve said reading the lyrics to Queen Latifah’s 1993 album Black Reign changed your life and inspired you to start writing poetry. When students connect with and see themselves in the music, multimedia, and books they read, it changes their relationship with reading completely. … Continue reading Newsmaker: Jason Reynolds
There are so many ways to promote reading and literacy. How did you decide to set up Imagination Library this way so that children get free books in the mail that they can keep? It started out with a simple dream, and a very personal one, 22 years ago. My father was a brilliant man, … Continue reading Newsmaker: Dolly Parton
You worked on this story for several years while recovering from West Nile virus, getting a master’s at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and raising your daughter. Then this nearly 400-page book comes out, and cartoonist Art Spiegelman is calling you “one of the most important comics artists of our time.” How … Continue reading Newsmaker: Emil Ferris
When you were growing up, what was your relationship to libraries like? We went to the Carnegie library that Andrew Carnegie had built for black Americans—Knoxville, Tennessee, was still segregated—and my librarian was Mrs. Long. I remember her getting books for me: “Well, Nikki, would you like to read this?” Some of the books I … Continue reading Newsmaker: Nikki Giovanni
You have published work in so many formats: novels, books of essays and short stories, a comic book (Marvel’s Black Panther: World of Wakanda, with Ta-Nehisi Coates and Yona Harvey), plus an upcoming memoir and a screenplay. What are the different challenges and rewards of working in each medium? Storytelling is storytelling, I have learned, … Continue reading Newsmaker: Roxane Gay
Where did the title Choose to Matter come from? It comes from a summer leadership academy we’ve been doing for 10-plus years, which is a combination of sports and leadership woven together for a weeklong residential camp. Our tagline is “Choose to Matter” with the kids, because our message is that leadership is personal, not … Continue reading Newsmaker: Julie Foudy
“She had a lot of fun,” Haleema says. “She got to help check out books, and she helped the librarians with shelving. When we got back home that night, I said, ‘Why not see if I can get her in the biggest library in the world?’” Haleema wrote to the Library of Congress, which invited … Continue reading Newsmaker: Daliyah Marie Arana
We’ve heard that Bridge to Terabithia is one of your favorite books. That can be an emotionally difficult read, given its tragic ending. Has becoming a father changed the way you approach children’s literature? Oh, absolutely. It’s important to us that our children not only read but understand the morals and messages behind the words. … Continue reading Newsmaker: Neil Patrick Harris
