Today we’d like to introduce you to Carole Weatherford.
Hi Carole, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I dictated my first poem to my mother at age six. First saw my work in print when my father, a printing teacher at Frederick Douglass High School, used a few of my early poems as typesetting exercises for his students. I earned an interdisciplinary degree from American University and a Master’s degree in publication’s design from University of Baltimore. My adult poetry had been published in literary journals when I rediscovered children’s literature as a new mother. Those multicultural books inspired me to try writing for young people. At the same time, I was pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at University of North Carolina-Greensboro.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The biggest hurdle early on was getting editors to read my submissions. When they did read my manuscripts, which often revealed hidden history, it was hard to persuade editors that obscure subjects mattered and would have mass appeal.
Now the greatest challenge may be the proliferation of book bans that threaten diverse books like mine. I will continue to be a truthteller, though, even in the face of current opposition.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I mine the past for family stories, fading traditions and forgotten struggles that center African-American resistance, resilience, rejoicing, remembrance and remarkability. My 80-plus books have garnered 2 NAACP Image Awards and 18 American Library Association Youth Media Awards, including a Newbery Honor, Coretta Scott King Award and 4 Caldecott Honors. My career achievements have been recognized with the American Library Association Children’s Literature Legacy Award, the Poetry Foundation’s Young People’s Poet Laureate, the North Carolina Award for Literature, the Nonfiction Award from the Children’s Book Guild and induction into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame. Along the way, I served as a Professor of English at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.
I tackle tough topics in children’s and young adult books. I do not condescend to young readers. Children are not too tender for tough topics. They deserve and will demand the truth. My books offer them a truer and more inclusive history.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love that Baltimore is a port city. As a young adult, sat at the dock and looked at the waterfront. The harbor helped give me sense of possibility, a sense of wider horizons.
What grieves me most about my hometown are the boarded up houses and the fact that too many communities have been left out of the city’s renaissance and have not benefited from redevelopment. The glaring inequity is sad.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cbweatherford.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caroleweatherford/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/poetweatherford/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carole-boston-weatherford-970baab/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/poetweatherford
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@carolethepoet
