Dispatches From BookCon: #WeNeeDiverseBooks

Last weekend Kat and I made the trip to attend the inaugural BookCon . The one day event  offered panels, autographing and chances for fans to connect. We had to see it for ourselves so here is our account of BookCon 2014

For the uninitiated,  #WeNeedDiverseBook is a movement that refuses to be a trend. In response to the disparity of minorities in children’s and YA literature, Ellen Oh and 21 other authors worked together to create the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign that ran for 3 days in May.

We participated here on Books and Sensibility and the fact that there was going to be a panel at BookCon was one of the reasons we wanted to attend BookCon.

So many phones went up !

We arrived 30 minutes early and the room was already  packed. It was  great to see so many people excited about diversity and books. For me it was so cool to see a panel full of authors of color. Seeing so many different people really shows how problematic representation is in YA and children’s fiction.

As the authors talked about how they dealt with identity in their reading lives, I found myself nodding along to some of their experiences.

Ellen Oh announced the future of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign and she is in it for the long haul. Here are some of the highlights :

• #WeNeedDiverseBooks will work with NEA’s Read Across America to promote diverse books and authors.

• Announcement of the second Lee and Low BooksNew Vision Award.

• WNDB is developing a 2016 Diversity In Children’s book Festival in Washington, D.C.

Can I say how excited I am about the book festival ? D.C is in my backyard so I hope I can attend/volunteer.

If you missed the panel you canread the transcript here orlisten to the audio !