Episode 101! The Last Episode!

NOW AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

Welcome to episode 101…and our last episode of the kidlitwomen* podcast! A message from Grace Lin:

I know I said kidlitwomen* would be back, but unfortunately after much reflection, I changed my mind. While there are still so many topics to cover and discuss, I think the kidlitwomen* podcast as I set it up has run its course. That said—there are 100 episodes to listen to! I will continue to keep the old episodes up and invite you to keep listening and sharing.

But to end the podcast and in honor of kidlitwomen* project and all that we tried and did accomplish, I’ve created a scholarship at the Highlights Foundation. It’s a scholarship for a Woman of Color with a passion for illustrating for children to attend any qualifying Highlights Foundation workshop. The scholarship includes full tuition to a Highlights Foundation workshop for illustrators plus a travel stipend of up to $500. Applications are due February 15, 2020. So please apply!

And you can be help as well-- donate to the scholarship yourself or text KIDLITWOMEN to 41444

 If you’ve listened to this podcast, you’ll know why I’ve decided to focus this scholarship on Women of color Illustrators. Episodes 32 Gender Inequity: Caldecott by the Numbers & the CSK Illustrator Awards by Christine Taylor-Butler and 33 A Conversation with Christine Taylor-Butler. talk about the gender inequity of the illustration awards and while we have made strides, there still has not been a woman of color that has won the Caldecott award (though I have hopes that changes this year—cross your fingers!).  Regardless, those episodes as well as episodes 2 & 3 with Shannon Hale have been the heart of the kidlitwomen project. We have always been trying  to bring equity to our community—that it is not about boys OR girls (or when it comes to race—majority vs minority) it has always been about all of us together and what we can do fix the injustices we see. I hope that this scholarship is one small way to make a change.

Of course, the rest of the changes are up to all of us and our everyday choices. I hope the 100 episodes of kidlitwomen* helped you think about the decisions you make consciously or unconsciously—I know it helped me!

Because I am still continuing the conversation! If you’d like to hear how I navigate the issues of the children’s book field, I invite you to listen to my other podcast Book Friends Forever. In that podcast, I talk weekly with my good friend and editor Alvina Ling about all topics—from petty to important. And when we talk about important things, many of them overlap the topics covered here in kidlitwomen*.  As an example, I’ve decided to share  episode 9 of Book Friends Forever here. In this episode, “Who Gets a piece of the pie?”— Alvina and I talk about the problematic idea that there is unfair affirmative action in publishing. It’s just one of the many things we talk about on our podcast, so I hope if you like this episode you’ll listen and subscribe to Book friends Forever!

Anyway, thanks so much for being with me for the 100 episodes of kidlitwomen*. I hope you continue the conversation!

Read all the kidlitwomen* essays shared in March

Subscribe to the kidlitwomen* podcast on ITunes

Subscribe to Book Friends Forever on iTunes

On today's podcast you will hear:

Alvina Ling is VP and Editor-in-Chief at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (a division of Hachette Book Group) where she has worked since 1999. She edits children's books for all ages, from picture books to young adult. She has edited such books as A Big Mooncake For Little Star by Grace Lin; Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown; Dave the Potter by Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Bryan Collier; Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer, The Candymakers by Wendy Mass, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, and The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. She Tweets with the handle @planetalvina and is on Instagram @alvinaling.

Grace Lin, a NY Times bestselling author/ illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and the Theodor Geisel Honor for Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same. Her most recent novel When the Sea Turned to Silver was a National Book Award Finalist and her most recent picture book,   A Big Mooncake for Little Star, was awarded the Caldecott Honor. Grace is an occasional commentator for New England Public Radio and video essayist for PBS NewsHour (here & here), as well as the speaker of the popular TEDx talk, The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf.