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Turning well known Latino voices for adults into voices for
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From: Lulu Delacre <luludela>
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 09:56:32 -0500
At the risk of distracting from the well deserved spotlight on the work of Pam Mu?oz Ryan and Joe Cepeda I would like to comment on the response of Robert P. Langdon to Ginny Moore Kruse.
On talking about Latino authors and artists Ginny Moore Kruse says:
?I've noticed that an unusually large number of authors prominent for literary works published for adult readers have also written books for children or young adults. I'm thinking of writers such as Rudolfo A. Anaya, Pat Mora, Julia Alvarez, Francisco X. Alarcon, Nicholasa Mohr, Victor Martinez, Juan Felipe Herrera, Sandra Cisneros, Gary Soto, Gloria Anzaldua - and there are many others. I'm thinking of artists such as Simon Silva, Raul Colon, George Ancona, David Diaz, and Carmen Lomas Garzas. This is not a complete list, and it certainly doesn't include writers known primarily - to me, at least - as writers for young readers, e.g., Lulu Delacre, Pam Munoz Ryan and Alma Flor Ada.
I've always wondered if each writer primarily known for her/his adult works was initially contacted by an editor of books for young people, or if he/she had a particularly vigorous agent who saw that there was room - oh, my, how much room - for books by Latino/a writers. If not, what brought each to children's/Y.A. books in the first place? Certainly they weren't walking into bookstores or libraries seeing an abundance of Latino literature for children and young adults and then thinking, oh this is something I can do, too. There was no such abundance to be seen.??
To the preceding comment Robert P. Langdon, director of Marketing at Children?s Book Press responds:
?Here at Children's Book Press, we typically approach writers who write mainly for an adult audience. They are already established names, we know they can write well, and write about subjects that are important to the community.?
He goes on to cite the many good authors and artists that his house publishes.
His response made me wonder if to have a chance to be published with Children?s Book Press as a Latino/a author or artist you need to have proven yourself beyond the children?s book field. Almost as if writing for children is not good enough ?...we know they can write well...? Does this implies that perhaps writers that devote themselves to the younger audience, are considered a risky lot? Or is it that these writers write about subjects that are more important to children than to the community they come from?
It would be interesting to find out if a similar trend occurs among mainstream authors and artists. It seems to me this is probably not the case, and that budding mainstream children?s authors do have a chance to be discovered and nurtured by a good editor from a children?s publishing house. I hope this doesn?t mean we Latino writers and artists are judged by a different standard.
When Rosemary Brosnan of Harper Collins mentioned how hard it was to find Latino authors and artists, one of the reasons for this might be that some of these authors and writers don?t believe they have a chance to have their voices heard, if indeed they have noticed that mostly the well known writers for adults get published.
One way publishers could assure themselves of having more Latinos submitting for them, would be to reveal the editor?s name of the Latino books they publish, especially in the case of big houses not particularly known by their interest in publishing Latino authors and artists. The same way you sometimes find the name of the designer of the book in the copyright page, you could have the name of its editor. Then the writer could submit to the one editor that might indeed consider his manuscript.
Ginny Moore Kruse is right in believing I only work in the children?s book field. I started 21 years ago illustrating mainstream books. Now, I devote myself to books that celebrate my Latino heritage. And I adore creating books for children, not because it is easier than to write for adults, but because it is my call, and I find children are the most honest audience I could ever have.
I believe there must be many other Latino voices waiting to be discovered. And although it might be easier to publish the established authors and artists, these new voices might also have deserving stories to tell if they are encouraged to rise and be heard.
Lulu Delacre Author/Illustrator www.childrensbookguild.org/luludelacre.html
Received on Thu 28 Feb 2002 08:56:32 AM CST
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 09:56:32 -0500
At the risk of distracting from the well deserved spotlight on the work of Pam Mu?oz Ryan and Joe Cepeda I would like to comment on the response of Robert P. Langdon to Ginny Moore Kruse.
On talking about Latino authors and artists Ginny Moore Kruse says:
?I've noticed that an unusually large number of authors prominent for literary works published for adult readers have also written books for children or young adults. I'm thinking of writers such as Rudolfo A. Anaya, Pat Mora, Julia Alvarez, Francisco X. Alarcon, Nicholasa Mohr, Victor Martinez, Juan Felipe Herrera, Sandra Cisneros, Gary Soto, Gloria Anzaldua - and there are many others. I'm thinking of artists such as Simon Silva, Raul Colon, George Ancona, David Diaz, and Carmen Lomas Garzas. This is not a complete list, and it certainly doesn't include writers known primarily - to me, at least - as writers for young readers, e.g., Lulu Delacre, Pam Munoz Ryan and Alma Flor Ada.
I've always wondered if each writer primarily known for her/his adult works was initially contacted by an editor of books for young people, or if he/she had a particularly vigorous agent who saw that there was room - oh, my, how much room - for books by Latino/a writers. If not, what brought each to children's/Y.A. books in the first place? Certainly they weren't walking into bookstores or libraries seeing an abundance of Latino literature for children and young adults and then thinking, oh this is something I can do, too. There was no such abundance to be seen.??
To the preceding comment Robert P. Langdon, director of Marketing at Children?s Book Press responds:
?Here at Children's Book Press, we typically approach writers who write mainly for an adult audience. They are already established names, we know they can write well, and write about subjects that are important to the community.?
He goes on to cite the many good authors and artists that his house publishes.
His response made me wonder if to have a chance to be published with Children?s Book Press as a Latino/a author or artist you need to have proven yourself beyond the children?s book field. Almost as if writing for children is not good enough ?...we know they can write well...? Does this implies that perhaps writers that devote themselves to the younger audience, are considered a risky lot? Or is it that these writers write about subjects that are more important to children than to the community they come from?
It would be interesting to find out if a similar trend occurs among mainstream authors and artists. It seems to me this is probably not the case, and that budding mainstream children?s authors do have a chance to be discovered and nurtured by a good editor from a children?s publishing house. I hope this doesn?t mean we Latino writers and artists are judged by a different standard.
When Rosemary Brosnan of Harper Collins mentioned how hard it was to find Latino authors and artists, one of the reasons for this might be that some of these authors and writers don?t believe they have a chance to have their voices heard, if indeed they have noticed that mostly the well known writers for adults get published.
One way publishers could assure themselves of having more Latinos submitting for them, would be to reveal the editor?s name of the Latino books they publish, especially in the case of big houses not particularly known by their interest in publishing Latino authors and artists. The same way you sometimes find the name of the designer of the book in the copyright page, you could have the name of its editor. Then the writer could submit to the one editor that might indeed consider his manuscript.
Ginny Moore Kruse is right in believing I only work in the children?s book field. I started 21 years ago illustrating mainstream books. Now, I devote myself to books that celebrate my Latino heritage. And I adore creating books for children, not because it is easier than to write for adults, but because it is my call, and I find children are the most honest audience I could ever have.
I believe there must be many other Latino voices waiting to be discovered. And although it might be easier to publish the established authors and artists, these new voices might also have deserving stories to tell if they are encouraged to rise and be heard.
Lulu Delacre Author/Illustrator www.childrensbookguild.org/luludelacre.html
Received on Thu 28 Feb 2002 08:56:32 AM CST
