Meet We Need Diverse Books’ Program Director before you see her at Walking on Water

This November’s Madeleine L’Engle event — the inaugural Walking on Water Conference — won’t merely a retrospective and celebration of Madeleine. Instead, organizers have a vision that the conference would also look ahead, amplifying and empowering artists and writers for a new generation.

Enter We Need Diverse Books, a grassroots nonprofit of children’s book lovers who advocate for a world in which every child would see themselves in a book. This vision is the reason Conference Director Sarah Arthur sees WNDB as an important collaborator.

(Read more from Sarah about WNDB in the latest edition of the Madeleine L’Engle newsletter!)

We’re fantastically honored that several WNDB authors will be participating in the L’Engle Conference at a panel titled “WNDB Presents: The New Generation of Meg Murrys—What Fantasy & Speculative Fiction Inspire.” Moderating that panel: WNDB Program Director Caroline Tung Richmond (The Only Thing to Fear).

We’re thrilled to feature Caroline today on the Madeleine L’Engle blog. Let’s get to know her better, shall we?

What excites you about the Madeleine L’Engle Conference?
I’m very excited to moderate a panel at this conference because A Wrinkle in Time was one of my favorite books when I was a girl! I’m really looking forward to celebrating the life and legacy of Madeleine L’Engle, who helped spark a deep love of science fiction in me as a kid.

Do you have a Madeleine story/quote/moment that has inspired you?
“A book, too, can be a star, a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe.” I love the imagery of this quote, how reading can take us on journeys not only across our own world, but throughout the cosmos. Growing up, I often felt like I’d been born in the wrong century — I wanted to live at a time when humans could explore the galaxy. I’ll likely never be able to do that in person (never say never though!), but I can still take journeys into space via books like Madeleine L’Engle’s.

In what ways does a legacy like Madeleine’s inspire the way you create art for a new generation?
Meg Murry is one of the most inspirational characters in children’s literature. She has inspired generations of girls to dream big, to be brave, and to take pride in their intelligence. I hope that my own books will similarly inspire young women to become the heroines of their stories.

What are you working on now?
My next novel is a Cold War alternate history that’s set in Washington, D.C. and that features a lot of high-tech robots. It should be out from Scholastic in 2020!

Where can we read more? 
If you’d like to read more diverse SFF, feel free to check out the OurStory app!

 

Thanks, Caroline!

Meet her and the rest of the WNDB panel in NYC this November — Special early bird pricing ends August 31, so register today!

 

–Erin F. Wasinger, for MadeleineLEngle.com.

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Guest blog post: How to recognize miracles

By Molly Cantrell-Kraig

I blame Charlton Heston.

When I was a little kid, the yearly screening of “The Ten Commandments” was anticipated in our household for a number of reasons. The first of which was its role as a rite of passage to, if not
 adulthood, at least big kid status, proved through the ability to stay awake through the entire 
thing. Alas, for many years, my brothers and I would consistently conk out on the living room 
floor somewhere around Yul Brynner’s “So let it be written; so let it be done” edict.

We yearned for the year when we could finally last until the second reason: the special effects,
 chief among them the parting of the Red Sea. Now this was a miracle!! Epic. Sweeping.
Monumental. Supernatural and supernal. Seeing Chas up there on the rock, serving as the 
conduit for what God wrought below spoiled me for quite a while where miracles were 
concerned.

Would you recognize a miracle if you saw it?

Most of the time we want big and flashy, or at least it’s what we expect from our miracles. The
 quiet ones like breathing, flowers blooming or a choice parking spot opening up for us on a rainy
 day? Meh.

Folks who follow me on twitter will note that I sign off most evenings with #poetry as my
#goodnight tweet. One of my favorite poets is Walt Whitman, and his poem, Miracles is one of
 the reasons why. The poem lists a number of everyday events, observances, and experiences,
 all of which exist within a confluence of everything: “The whole referring, yet each distinct and in
 its place.”

As an example, for the women reading this, if (or when) you were pregnant, did it seem as
though every other woman on the planet was pregnant? This perception grew from your
 awareness. You were attuned to pregnancy and everything that involves bearing a child; hence,
 you recognized this experience in those who surrounded you. It’s the same with the awareness
 of miracles. The more miracles you acknowledge, the more of them that you will see.

Miracles are generated at the intersection of our internal and external worlds, through syncing 
the inner and outer environments. Through the symbiotic action of improving ourselves, we
improve our environs by default. In so doing, we affect change and provide the catalyst for
 miracles.

For the sake of discussion, let’s assume that miracles are evidence of the Divine. When we take
 active steps to nurture and develop our higher selves, are we not engaging the divine within?

Taken a step farther, by engaging divinity, are we not giving it the opportunity to flex itself and to 
manifest itself in our lives?

You are the miracle.

You’re a confluence of DNA, tRNA and other helix models twirling, replicating and creating
 worlds. The fact that you exist at all is, in and of itself, a miracle. Your thoughts, desires,
 mechanical dexterity and talents are all finely orchestrated cellular wonders. You are a carbon-based life form with sentience, a conscience, and an ability to decide what your life is going to
 be. Every morning you have another 24 hours to make something happen.

Every morning is your birth day.

Today’s exercise is to give thanks for every miracle you can recognize, from the mundane to the
 phenomenal.

 

Reading L’Engle’s Time Quintet fundamentally changed the way a nine-year-old Molly viewed the intersection of divinity, science, and love. Through reading L’Engle’s books, Molly could envision a universe beyond the borders of her small town, teleporting her into a realm where love was recognized as the binding and universal force that supports and connects worlds. Seeing Meg as a flawed, yet determine heroine gave Molly an early role model in learning how to overcome one’s fears and to take risks. The chapter Miracles is an example of the confluence of love, divinity and science that extends throughout her most recent book, Circuit Train Your Brain: Daily Habits to Build Resilience. Comprised of brief chapters designed to help identify and reinforce the power each of us has within us to cultivate resilience, the book draws upon her personal experiences of overcoming numerous obstacles in her personal and professional life.

An author, media consultant, life coach and speaker, Molly Cantrell-Kraig has been recognized as one of CNN’sVisionary Women, profiled by the Christian Science Monitor, and the Shriver Report. Cantrell-Kraig has also been interviewed on the Women’s Media Center and the BBC, speaking on such topics as women, independence, gender roles and life transitions. From her beginnings as a single mother on welfare, Cantrell-Kraig is a self-described work in progress whose focus is on helping others achieve their goals by sharing her own experiences. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram as @mckra1g or on the web at www.mollycantrellkraig.co .

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Do you have something you’d like us to share with our blog readers? We are taking submissions for guest blog posts. Email: social [at] madeleinelengle [dot] com

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Glorious Impossibles: Writing ‘for children’ panel brings together rockstar, award-winning authors

Madeleine said that artists, like children, are good believers. She also denied that writing for children was any different from writing for grownups (a perspective that came up recently during Children’s Book Week).

The techniques of fiction are the techniques of fiction. They hold as true for Beatrix Potter as they do for Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Characterization, style, theme, are as important in children’s books as in a novel for grownups.  — Walking on Water

At this year’s Walking on Water Conference, we’re going deeper. We’ve pulled together a panel of authors to explore how faith–their own, and/or their characters–shows up in their’ writings, and what writing “for children” means.

Joining the “Glorious Impossibles” panel are:

Moderator Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich: Olugbemisola was a student of Madeleine’s, a story you’ve got to hear her tell.  She’s also the author of 8th Grade Superzero, a Notable Book for a Global Society and Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People. She is co-author of the NAACP Image Award-nominated Two Naomis, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and its sequel, Naomis Too. Her nonfiction books include Above and Beyond: NASA’s Journey to Tomorrow, and the picture book biography Someday Is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-Ins, a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People. Olugbemisola is also the editor of The Hero Next Door, a 2019 middle grade anthology from We Need Diverse Books. Visit her online at olugbemisolabooks.com and on Instagram.

And “Glorious Impossibles” panelists:

  • Ibi Zoboi: Ibi holds an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her writing has been published in The New York Times Book Review, the Horn Book Magazine, and The Rumpus, among others. Her debut novel, American Street, was a finalist for the National Book Award and has received five starred reviews. Under the same imprint, her latest YA novel, Pride, was released last fall, and, Black Enough, a collection of stories about what it’s like to be young and black in America, made its debut in January. Her middle grade debut, My Life as an Ice-Cream Sandwich, is forthcoming in late August. You can find her online at www.ibizoboi.net.

 

  • Veera Hiranandani: Veera is the author of The Night Diary, which received the 2019 Newbery Honor Award, the 2019 Walter Dean Myers Honor Award and the 2018 Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children’s Literature. The Night Diary has been featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition, is a New York Times Editor’s Choice Pick, and was chosen as a 2018 Best Children’s Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, Amazon, School Library Journal, and Kirkus Reviews, among others. She is also the author of The Whole Story of Half a Girl, which was named a Sydney Taylor Notable Book and a South Asian Book Award Finalist, and the chapter book series, Phoebe G. Green. A former book editor at Simon & Schuster, she now teaches creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College’s Writing Institute and is working on her next novel. Online, you’ll find her at  www.veerahiranandani.com, on Twitter, and on Instagram.

 

Register now to hear this panel (and tons more) at the first Walking on Water Conference, Nov. 16. Details, registration, and news about a pre-conference retreat are all here. Early bird pricing ends August 31, so don’t wait!

Til then, looks like your reading list is filled up!

Happy reading,

~Erin F. Wasinger, for MadeleineLEngle.com.

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Catherine Hand, David Paterson, Cornelia Duryee talk adaptations at Walking on Water Conference

When I saw A Wrinkle in Time on stage this spring, I was blown away by the ability of the performers and director to keep the truth of the story while staying true to their medium. I constantly wondered, though: How on earth did they adapt this book so well?

We’re thrilled to have a conversation about adaptations with a sterling panel of film and stage pros at the first Walking on Water Conference this November. Taking part in the “Icons of the True: Adapting Novels to Film” panel:

Photo © Tony Powell. Catherine Hand. January 22, 2018

  • Catherine Hand: Her journey with A Wrinkle in Time began when she first read the beloved novel as a young girl,dreamingof one day making it into a major motion picture. Years later, Hand met Madeleine L’Engle, establishing alifelong friendship and earning L’Engle’s trust as a steward for the film adaptation. Read about her 54-year wait to make Wrinkle into a movie in this feature that ran in Time magazine before the movie’s release.  Find her on Twitter, too: @madebyhand5. (Photo credit: Photo © Tony Powell. Catherine Hand. January 22, 2018)

 

  • David Paterson: David is a writer, professional stuntman, and adjunct professor of screenwriting for NYIT of Manhattan. His films have premiered at Sundance, Tribeca and Palm Springs Film Festivals, and have screened at over a 100 festivals worldwide. He wrote and produced the Disney hit, The Bridge to Terabithia. His latest film, The Great Gilly Hopkins, starring Glenn Close, Octavia Spencer, Kathy Bates, is now screening on Amazon and iTunes. More about David can be found at www.arcadybayent.com.

 

  • Cornelia Duryee: She writes, produces, and directs (both film and theater), and works as a casting director. She has written and directed three feature films—West of Redemption, Camilla Dickinson and The Dark Horse—and both produced and cast the first season of the popular web-series JourneyQuest. She’s also credited for introducing Madeleine to All Angels Church, where the conference will be held.

 

 

The Walking on Water Conference is at All Angels’ Church, New York City. A pre-conference retreat begins the festivities on Friday, Nov. 15, followed by the main conference events on Nov. 16. Early bird registration ends on August 31.  Register today!

~Erin F. Wasinger, for MadeleineLEngle.com.

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