Disability Dispatch: Disabled Authors Speak Their Truths

In this discussion with Keah Brown, Natalia Sylvester, and Jen Wilde, moderated by Karol Ruth Silverstein, these four disabled authors discuss their books, careers, and the joys and challenges of telling authentic disability stories for young people. If you haven't seen this SCBWI Digital Workshop yet, I highly recommend it!

As the panel description says, "Disability inclusion in children’s books is no longer niche—it’s necessary!"

There were so many great moments in the discussion, including:

Keah Brown's response to someone telling her their book made them so angry they burned it: "Thank you for purchasing it."

And Natalia Sylvester decoding the criticism they faced when a reader wanted the book to be 'just' about disability (and not intersectional), was that reader wanting the book to more closely reflect their own white experience.

Watch the full video here.

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

Disability in Publishing Launches with a Virtual Town Hall and Website Resources

 

Last month saw the virtual town hall announcing the formation and launch of Disability in Publishing! The group is cooking up lots of great things for disabled folks working in publishing...

Their mission reads: 

Our mission is to create community, provide resources, and increase accessibility across the industry in order to increase disability visibility and retain the talent of disabled publishing professionals. We will support each other through advocacy, education, networking, and community. We are committed to working from an intersectional perspective. 

And their website already includes some helpful resources that will grow over time, including:

An Agents Directory, "A list of agents who are interested in representing authors who have disabilities, and books with disability representation."

An Editor Directory, "A list of editors who are interesting in acquiring books with disability representation and working with writers with disabilities."

A Freelancer Directory, "A list of individuals who are open to freelance or work-for-hire work  and identify as a Person with Disability"

There will be a listing for jobs and an accessibility guide for employers as well!

You can learn more about Disability in Publishing here.

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

SCBWI is Participating in GivingTuesday in Order to Benefit Creators With Disabilities

For the first time ever, SCBWI is participating in GivingTuesday in order to benefit creators with disabilities. GivingTuesday was created in 2012 with a simple idea in mind–to encourage people to do good–and has since grown into a global movement inspiring hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.

This December 1, we ask that any donations you give to the SCBWI be tagged with #GivingTuesday (in the PayPal or check memo) if you’d like them dedicated to scholarships, grants, and accessibility resources for people with disabilities. While we gratefully accept donations any time of year, we know that 2020 has been particularly challenging for many of us. If giving financially isn’t feasible for you right now, we hope that you will consider giving your voice, time, talent, extra belongings, teamwork, and kindness. Click here for more ways to get involved this GivingTuesday.

We hope you’ll join us in celebrating generosity and consider making a donation to the SCBWI in support of our members with disabilities. For more ways to support our members, we invite you to peruse and suggest additions to our disability resources page. (Please send suggestions to Kiana Martin at kianamartin@scbwi.org–thank you!)

And, as a great reference, SCBWI’s Statement of Disability (borrowed from We Need Diverse Books) is:

“We subscribe to a broad definition of disability, which includes but is not limited to physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities, chronic conditions, and mental illnesses (this may also include addiction). Furthermore, we subscribe to a social model of disability, which presents disability as created by barriers in the social environment due to lack of equal access, stereotyping, and other forms of marginalization.”

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee