The Need for Multi-Cultural Stories

Saturday, April 6, 1 – 3 PM The Need for Multi-Cultural Stories Donna Beasley, Sandra Jackson-Opoku Everybody’s Coffee, 939 W. Wilson, Chicago, IL Donna Beasley is the founder and president of KaZoom Digital Publishing and KaZoom Kids iStory Books. Unable to find a book that her six-year-old African-American niece could relate to and enjoy, Beasley decided to do something. KaZoom Digital Publishing’s mission is to bring greater diversity to children’s literature by publishing books by and for the African-American and Hispanic communities. In addition Donna will talk about the different ways the Society for Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) is working with writers on diversity initiatives, such as the Many Voices Outstanding Manuscript Prize. The Illinois chapter of SCBWI is working to make the children’s book world more diverse, equitable and inclusive. Sandra Jackson-Opoku will help us to organize our writing by showing us online apps for submission management and ways to track manuscripts and agents. In addition she will show us how to create an online calendar/reminder system for submission, grant, or residency application deadlines. Ms. Jackson-Opoku’s work has earned the SCBWI Kimberly Colen Award for New Children’s Writing, an American Antiquarian Society Fellowship for Creative Writers, a National Endowment for the Arts Fiction Fellowship, the CCLM/General Electric Fiction Award for Younger Writers, Illinois Arts Council Finalist Awards, and more. FREE When: Saturday, April 6, 1 – 3 PM Where: Everybody’s Coffee, 935 W. Wilson, Chicago, IL RSVP: janehertenstein@gmail.com Street parking available