How to Become a Black Writer: Creating and Honoring Black Stories That Matter (the Power of Black Stories, Inspiration for Black Storytellers)

Prologue

Chapter 1 "The Girl Who Flew on the Wings of Words"

Acknowledgments

Marita Golden is a bestselling author, journalist, activist, and consultant famous for crafting over 20 fiction and non-fiction works. Starting as a freelance writer and editor for magazines such as The New York Times and Essence Magazine, she released her debut memoir, Migrations of the Heart, in 1984. Since then, she has published renowned books such as Saving Our Sons and Don't Play in the Sun, as well as novels like The Edge of Heaven and After. Marita has also led several lectures and workshops, as well as founding the Hurston-Wright Foundation to help current and future Black authors bring their stories to life. She currently lives in Washington D.C.

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, publisher, and New York Times bestselling author of 35 books, including Becoming Muhammad Ali (co-authored with James Patterson), Solo, Rebound, which was shortlisted for the prestigious UK Carnegie Medal, The Caldecott Medal and Newbery Honor-winning picture book, The Undefeated, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, and his NEWBERY medal-winning middle grade novel, The Crossover. A regular contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, Kwame is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, The Coretta Scott King Author Honor, Three NAACP Image Award Nominations, and the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award. In 2018, he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana, as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an international literacy program he co-founded. Kwame is the Founding Editor of VERSIFY, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt that aims to Change the World One Word at a Time.

Kwame's most recent book is Light for the World to See: A Thousand Words on Race and Hope. Find out more info on Kwame and where he'll be at www.KwameAlexander.com.