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LSU Young Adult Literature Conference 2015 - Day Two Recap

6/2/2015

 

LSU's Dr. Bickmore & Author Jacqueline Woodson Round Out Day 2

“Some books you don’t give away. Some books make you see the world differently.”

In a moving and thought-provoking opening to Day 2, Conference creator and director Dr. Steve Bickmore discussed his own personal experiences with diversity, privilege, and why he believes an educator’s greatest task is to instill and foster optimism and confidence in their students.

 “As educators, you are being called to work in an environment where you need to spread hope,” he told the audience.

Dr. Bickmore said that YA Literature has a major role to play in this task.

“We aren’t thinking about the value of YAL. If we want kids to be lifelong readers, we need to give them age-appropriate content that will engage then and open doors to get them reading other things. We need to allow them to look through different windows and reconcile their experiences with a diversity of characters.”

However engaging and encouraging students is no small task for educators who encounter kids from all races, religions and walks of life.

“What about the kids who are NOT me,” he challenged the audience. “That’s the issue for all of us. How do we reach the kids who aren’t like us. You aren’t going to teach yourself. If we don’t turn to things like YAL and constantly re-evaluate our opportunities and missed opportunities to make a difference, we fail as educators. I admit that I wasn’t always right with what I put in my students’ hands.”

Dr. Bickmore closed by encouraging the audience to seek to first understand when trying to foster diversity in the classroom.

“Have the brave conversations with people who don’t look like you, who don’t have the same world view, so we can understand each other better.”


2014 National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson's afternoon keynote focused on the power of youth in pushing for diversity in literature.

Between reading from several of her own works, Woodson shared personal experiences from her childhood and how they have shaped her writing style and the characters she creates.

"I grew up in a world where there were many windows, but they all looked into a white, middle class world. And there were very few mirrors for me. I started to write because I wanted to create a world where I could see myself, and for kids like me to see themselves," she said. "There is room for all kinds of literature. And kids need all kinds of literature. I believe all people have a right to see themselves in the books they read."

Day 2 closed out with a welcome reception at the LSU campus bookstore where authors and attendees mingled and both Woodson and fellow author Coe Booth read from some of their works.

For more info on Woodson, click here.
Follow her on Twitter at @JackieWoodson.

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    Dr. Steve Bickmore
    ​Creator and Curator

    Dr. Bickmore is a Professor of English Education at UNLV. He is a scholar of Young Adult Literature and past editor of The ALAN Review and a past president of ALAN. He is a available for speaking engagements at schools, conferences, book festivals, and parent organizations. More information can be found on the Contact page and the About page.
    Dr. Gretchen Rumohr
    Co-Curator
    Gretchen Rumohr is a professor of English and writing program administrator at Aquinas College, where she teaches writing and language arts methods.   She is also a Co-Director of the UNLV Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature. She lives with her four girls and a five-pound Yorkshire Terrier in west Michigan.

    Bickmore's
    ​Co-Edited Books

    Picture
    Meet
    Evangile Dufitumukiza!
    Evangile is a native of Kigali, Rwanda. He is a college student that Steve meet while working in Rwanda as a missionary. In fact, Evangile was one of the first people who translated his English into Kinyarwanda. 

    Steve recruited him to help promote Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media while Steve is doing his mission work. 

    He helps Dr. Bickmore promote his academic books and sometimes send out emails in his behalf. 

    You will notice that while he speaks fluent English, it often does look like an "American" version of English. That is because it isn't. His English is heavily influence by British English and different versions of Eastern and Central African English that is prominent in his home country of Rwanda.

    Welcome Evangile into the YA Wednesday community as he learns about Young Adult Literature and all of the wild slang of American English vs the slang and language of the English he has mastered in his beautiful country of Rwanda.  

    While in Rwanda, Steve has learned that it is a poor English speaker who can only master one dialect and/or set of idioms in this complicated language.

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