Carole Boston Weatherford – The Booking Biz

A New York Times best-selling author, Carole Boston Weatherford is one of the leading poets writing for young people today. She believes that poetry makes music with words. And she mines the past for family stories, fading traditions and forgotten struggles. Her work spans poetry, nonfiction, biography and historical fiction. Her latest releases are FREEDOM IN CONGO SQUARE and YOU CAN FLU: THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN. Her 40-plus books include many award winners:

GORDON PARKS: HOW THE PHOTOGRAPHER CAPTURED BLACK AND WHITE AMERICA (NAACP Image Award)
VOICE OF FREEDOM: FANNIE LOU HAMER, SPIRIT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT (Caldecott Honor, Sibert Honor, Coretta Scott King John Steptoe New Talent Award and Flora Steiglitz Straus Award from Bank Street College of Education)
SUGAR HILL: HARLEM’S HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOOD (Arnold Adoff Early Poetry Honor)
MOSES: WHEN HARRIET TUBMAN LED HER PEOPLE TO FREEDOM (NAACP Image Award, Coretta Scott King Award and Caldecott Honor Medal)
BEFORE JOHN WAS A JAZZ GIANT: A SONG OF JOHN COLTRANE (Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor and the SCBWI Golden Kite Honor)
Becoming Billie Holiday (Coretta Scott King Author Honor)
DEAR MR. ROSENWALD (SCBWI Golden Kite Honor, NAACP Image Award finalist)
BIRMINGHAM, 1963 (Jefferson Cup from Virginia Library Association, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and Jane Addams Children’s Literature Honor)
THE SOUND THAT JAZZ MAKES (Carter G. Woodson Award from National Council for the Social Studies, NAACP Image Award finalist)
FREEDOM ON THE MENU: THE GREENSBORO SITINS (North Carolina Juvenile Literature Award)
REMEMBER THE BRIDGE: POEMS OF A PEOPLE (North Carolina Juvenile Literature Award)

For career achievements, Carole received the Ragan-Rubin Award from North Carolina English Teachers Association and the North Carolina Literature Award, among the state’s highest civilian honors. She holds an M.A. in publications design from University of Baltimore and an M.F.A. in creative writing from University of North Carolina, Greensboro.

She has two adult children and lives in North Carolina, where she is a Professor of English at Fayetteville State University. Through her books and performances, her words reach millions of young readers. And as a professor, she trains current and future teachers and mentors emerging writers.

In her presentations, Carole Boston Weatherford often collaborates with illustrator Jeffrey Boston Weatherford.

PRESENTATIONS

Most programs are based on poetry and nonfiction books that connect the language arts and social studies curricula. All programs are interactive and employ multimedia. Programs range from 45 to 60 minutes and can be adapted as teacher or parent workshops. Here are some new and popular themes and related books.

You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen

Poems chronicle the training, trials and triumphs of the pioneering WWII pilots; with a focus on history, research and character lessons.

Primary Source Images as Prompts

Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America; Remember the Bridge Poems of a People;

Slavery, Segregation & Social Justice

Presentations based on Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom; Freedom in Congo Square; Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-ins; Birmingham, 1963; Sink or Swim: African American Lifesavers of the Outer Banks; Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement; Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library; or Be A King: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream and You

The Harlem Renaissance, Poetry & Jazz

Presentations spotlighting the history of jazz and the places and personalities of Harlem’s heyday: Sugar Hill: Harlem’s Historic Neighborhood; The Sound That Jazz Makes; Becoming Billie Holiday; Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane; Jazz Baby; The Legendary Miss Lena Horne

Biographies

Meet history-making barrier-breakers who achieved against the odds: Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Lena Horne, Fannie Lou Hamer, Jesse Owens, Matthew Henson, Arturo Schomburg and more.

Writing Workshops

Try writing blues, hip hop, protest song lyrics, protest signs, proverbs, or recipe poems. Write letters inspired by primary source photographs. Learn a format for reviewing anything. Also workshops and master classes for children’s book creators.

Keynotes & Breakouts & Professional Development