1 - I'm Not a Fan of Diverse Books, I'm a Fan of Diverse Thinking People, a conversation with Kwame Alexander

In this episode, Charnaie interviews New York Times Bestselling authorKwame Alexander.  Kwame is also a poet, educator, author of 37 books,including THE UNDEFEATED, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, HOW TO READ ABOOK, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, SWING, REBOUND, which was shortlistedfor prestigious Carnegie Medal, and, his NEWBERY medal-winning middle gradenovel, THE CROSSOVER. Kwame is also the Founding Editor of VERSIFY, animprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt that aims to Change the World One Word ata Time.Kwame discusses how his writing career he began, upcoming books andprojects he’s working on and tells us why he’s not a fan of the phrase “diversebooks”.Things you will learn in this episode:How George Floyd’s death has impacted Kwame’s life personally and professionally.The inspiration that led Kwame to start writing kid lit.Which authors Kwame has frequent virtual happy hours with to gossip, sharetheir work and talk about how to make the world a better place.Kwame’s advice for inspiring writers.The name of Kwame’s forthcoming writing journal for kids and his forthcoming books for middle grade readers and adults.Resources mentioned in this episode:Here Wee ReadProject LitThe Brown BookshelfConnect with Charnaie online in the following places:Blog: http://hereweeread.comPersonal Website: charnaiegordon.comPodcast Email Address: [email protected] Charnaie on the following social media platforms under the username@hereweeread: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, PinterestFeel free to share this podcast on your social media platforms to help spreadthe word to others. Thanks for listening!