Nadine Presley talks about her writing journey, her family, and her first book, The City of Jasmine (set for 2025). Nadine has lived in multiple places and has experienced a lot throughout her travels. During this podcast, Nadine talks specifically about how she started writing, and why it is important to create Syrian stories to represent herself and her family in today's world. Nadine takes a deep dive, in her writing process, and the inspirations behind her craft. Website: https://www.nadinep...
Jun 01, 2023•27 min
Janae Marks is the author of critically acclaimed middle grade novels, From the Desk of Zoe Washington and A Soft Place to Land, as well as the forthcoming novel On Air with Zoe Washington. She has an MFA in Writing for Children from The New School, and lives in Connecticut with her husband, daughter and miniature schnauzer named Cookie. Janae chats about motherhood, writing/publishing during a pandemic, growing up in New York, and new books. Website:http://www.janaemarks.com/ Instagram: https:/...
Jun 20, 2022•28 min
Jyoti Rajan Gopal is a writer, mom and Kindergarten teacher. Growing up, she lived in Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, India and China. Twenty-eight years ago, she moved to New York and now lives in Yonkers in a quirky old Victorian, with her husband and two daughters. Her favorite place in the house is the wrap around porch where she loves to gather with family or friends, read, write and drink coffee. Jyoti talks about her course with the Writing Barn (see link below), living in many different co...
Jun 16, 2022•34 min
Jarrett has been a storyteller most his life, both on his own and in collaboration with Jerome. While their earliest work remains locked in a drawer—the key long lost for good measure—their first co-authored book, Creepy Things Are Scaring Me, was published by HarperCollins in 2003. Jerome is a designer, illustrator, and writer, originally from Houston, TX. He studied graphic design at the Art Institute of Austin and has worked as a technical writer, freelance graphic designer, and illustrator. ...
Jun 15, 2022•24 min
Tracy Badua is a Filipino American author of books about young people with sunny hearts in a sometimes stormy world. According to her grandmother, Tracy inherited this love of the written word from her great-grandfather, a school teacher in the Philippines. To Tracy, this means writing is in her blood, and she continues this family tradition by telling stories with her own spin in an accessible, heartfelt way. By day, she is an attorney who works in national housing policy and programs, and by n...
Jun 02, 2022•25 min
Dane Liu believes in the power of stories to affirm, transport, and transform. Her debut for young readers FRIENDS ARE FRIENDS, FOREVER is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, an Indie Next Pick, and a Best Book of the Year from The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. Dane was born in China and moved to the US and Canada when she was a tween. On this podcast, we chat with Dane about living in multiple places, growing up in an immigrant family, being "good enough, biking and h...
May 04, 2022•28 min
Julian Randall is a Living Queer Black poet from Chicago. He has received fellowships from Cave Canem, CantoMundo, Callaloo, BOAAT, and the Watering Hole. Julian is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize. Julian is the winner of the 2019 Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award from the Publishing Triangle. On this podcast (part 2 of 2) Julian talks about The Dead Don't Need Reminding (Essay Collection), running from a REAL tornado, the Chicago Bulls and their playoff hopes, and so much more! Apologizes fo...
Apr 28, 2022•22 min
Julian Randall is a Living Queer Black poet from Chicago. He has received fellowships from Cave Canem, CantoMundo, Callaloo, BOAAT, and the Watering Hole. Julian is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize. Julian is the winner of the 2019 Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award from the Publishing Triangle. On this podcast (part 1 of 2) Julian talks in-depth about his first published book, accepting the idea of being a "writer", family influence, and is magic just for white kids. Apologizes for the audio o...
Apr 26, 2022•36 min
Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich was born in New York and later moved A LOT. She's spent a lot of time in many different countries, so she was a new kid in many different places (up until 8th grade). On this podcast, Olugbemisola shares childhood stories with her parents, the freedom to read, the feeling of being in different schools, and the impact of digital media. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/olugbemisolarhudayperkovich/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/olugbemisola Website: https://www.olug...
Apr 21, 2022•29 min
Erika Meza is a Mexican Migrant, who loves tacos and doodling! After studying graphic design (and moving houses nearly 30 times)She lived in a dungeon with a princess in Paris to attend the Illustration program at ENSAD, which got her addicted to chocolate éclairs and 2 am bike rides by the river. Erika now lives with a cat in the UK where she works with ink, gouaches, and watercolor pencils as an author and illustrator represented in my exploits by Claire Cartey. During this podcast Erika speak...
Mar 22, 2022•34 min
Ashley Woodfolk is the ultimate reader and writer. She graduated from Rutgers University and worked in children's book publishing for over a decade. She is now a full-time mom and writer and lives in Brooklyn her husband, dog, and the cutest baby in the world. Some of her books include The Beauty That Remains, When You Were Everything, Blackout and the Flyy Girls Series. On this podcast Ashley talks her Day in the life as a momma and writer, what it looks like taking care of a new little guy wit...
Mar 17, 2022•49 min
Derek Desierto is a Vancouver-based illustrator whose books with Eva Chen include the New York Times bestseller Juno Valentine and the Magical Shoes. Currently, he is living the dream as a freelance artist for animated TV shows and picture books. His ultimate goal in life is to meet Oprah and become one of her Favorite Things. On this podcast, Derek chats about his move from the Philippines to Canada, his creative process, the idea of "writer's block", family support during his artist journey, a...
Mar 10, 2022•29 min
Anne Wynter has always loved to write; advertisements, poems, test questions, short stories, illegible grocery lists, press releases, white papers, and plays. But her love is with children's books. When she is not writing, she enjoys reading, running, and puzzling through an idea for a new book, or spending time with her husband, two sons, and cat at home in Austin, TX On this podcast, Anne chats specifically about the importance of the revising process, and her writing journey. Website: https:/...
Mar 07, 2022•23 min
Andrea Wang is an acclaimed author of children’s books. Her book Watercress was awarded the Caldecott Medal, a Newbery Honor, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, a New England Book Award, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor. Her other books, The Many Meanings of Meilan, Magic Ramen, and The Nian Monster, have also received awards and starred reviews. Her work explores culture, creative thinking, and identity. She is also the author of seven nonfiction titles for the library and schoo...
Mar 02, 2022•28 min
Jerry Craft is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the graphic novels New Kid and Class Act. New Kid is the only book in history to win the John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature (2020); the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature (2019), and the Coretta Scott King Author Award for the most outstanding work by an African American writer (2020). Jerry was born in Harlem and grew up in the Washington Heights section of New York Cit...
Feb 24, 2022•25 min
On this podcast, Gary talks with spoken word artist/author Andrew Fenton, from North End Halifax, Nova Scotia. This is a special podcast for Gary, for he speaks with someone from home who has been writing amazing books for some time now. Andre chats representation in text growing up in Nova Scotia at a young age. He also shares his writing journey, and how it started through poetry/spoken word. Andre shares an important message to kids back home in Nova Scotia who are interested in writing and s...
Feb 17, 2022•25 min
What an honor to speak with the one and only Deesha Philyaw. Deesha's book Secret Lives of Church Ladies won the 2021 Pen/Faulkner Award, 2020/21 Story Prize, 2020 LA Times Book Prize and was a Finalist 2020 National Book For Fiction. On this podcast, Deesha speaks about her family in Jacksonville, and their influences on her upbringing. What it was like to write during a pandemic, and what strategies she use to produce some of her best work yet. Later in the podcast, we find out what Deesha is ...
Feb 15, 2022•30 min
Sarah Suk (pronounced like soup with a K) lives in Vancouver, Canada where she writes stories and admires mountains. When she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the water, taking film photos, or eating a bowl of bingsu. On this episode, listen to Sarah talk about her new book Made In Korea, along with the yummy treats she enjoys. Sarah also spends time talking about growing up in Canada and some of the differences when she visits Korea. Website: https://www.sarahsuk.com/ Instagram: h...
Sep 01, 2021•23 min
Gail D. Villanueva is the author of Sugar and Spite, and debut novel, My Fate According to the Butterfly! She was born in the Philippines, in which she currently lives, and enjoys her many pets at home (dogs, ducks, turtles, cats and random birds) On this episode Gail shares her experience talking with kids about books, and the importance of representation in text. She shares some of the most interesting questions she's had from school visits. And she talks specifically about her childhood/adult...
Jun 11, 2021•31 min
Tami Charles is the New York Times bestselling author of All Because You Matter, and many other books for children and young adults. On this podcast she stops by to talk all things personal. She starts with live and times during the pandemic, new math, educational influences and writing during covid-19. Later Tami shares some important insights on raising a Black son, and her steps in how to make this work in todays world. All in connection to her New York Times best selling book All Because You...
Jun 07, 2021•28 min
Shelly Anand was born and (mostly) raised in Georgia by immigrant parents from India. Besides writing amazing books, Shelly is a civil and human rights attorney for immigrants and workers from marginalized communities. On this podcast, Shelly talks about how her name changed over time. She talks about her families transition to America, and what those ups and downs looked like vividly. She also talks about raising mixed raced kids, and how she beginnings to prepare her little ones for the world....
Jun 02, 2021•34 min
Lanesha Tabb is a rockstar Momma and Educator! On this podcast, Lanesha talks specifically about how she became a Kindergarten teacher for so many years, and how this passion came about. Later Lanesha tells us about the role faith has played in her life growing up, and how she fosters these traditions in her life currently. From early morning Sunday school, to afternoon service, Lanesha did it all. An educator and scholar with an extremely busy schedule, what do they like to do for fun? You'll n...
May 29, 2021•24 min
Debbi is an award winning author who writes amazing books for children. Some of her titles include Keep it Together, Keiko Carter, and the upcoming companion novel Just Be Cool, Jenna Sakai, the Jasmine Toguchi chapter book series and many other books for children. Did you know that Debbi has a degree in Zoology? Did you know that Debbi once brought a pet snake home to her family! Debbi shares it all on ItsPersonalPodcast, starting from a young age when she found her love for reading and writing...
May 23, 2021•26 min
Namrata Tripathi stops by with a special guest! You have to listen to find out who it is! We start our chat talking about the many hats that Namrata wears daily. This leads us into leadership, and her role as a VP & publisher at the amazing Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. We spend time talking about Namrata's experience being a mother, and what this looks like (during covid-19), and how it is shaping her relationship with her daughter. What they do together for fun? What movies ...
May 15, 2021•56 min
Neha Sobti drops by and chats with us about the many roadblocks in the current work that she does for schools and educators. Neha is an educator/admin/organizer/writer working out of New York City. Her work is rooted in a love for making change and moving the dial a little, each and every day in hopes of creating spaces that are equitable. Neha's work is non-stop, so we ask about her healing process and how she takes time to re-charge or get away from it all. Or does she? We also dig a little an...
May 12, 2021•21 min
Rajani LaRocca was born in Bangalore, India, and immigrated to the U.S as a baby. She later spent her childhood in Louisville, Kentucky. On this podcast, Rajani shares what her day looks like as a primary care physician. Yup! She not only writes amazing books. She also has been taking care of humans as a physician since 2001! Rajani talks about family traditions and finding joy during this time (all things considered) Find out some of Rajani's hobbies (when she has time) besides writing, and get...
May 09, 2021•20 min
Amélie has always loved to write. Born in Paris and raised in a multicultural community in Beijing, Amélie has multiple identities that have made her who she is today. On this episode, Amélie talks about living in multiple places and how these communities have impacted her growth as a professional. She also shares what it means to be a financial professional and a writer (She's super busy!) at the same time. Something I really enjoyed about Amélie's personality is her willingness to grow and con...
May 01, 2021•18 min
I am not really sure what Dr. Sonja Cherry Paul can't do. I mean, not only is she an amazing person, she really has an awesome story and provides so much to the world. Her work focuses on anti-bias and anti-racist pedagogy. She develops a curriculum (Heinemann) for educators and schools. She's co-founder/facilitator of Institue for Racal Equity in Literacy and is currently working on an adaptation for Stamped for kids (and so much more) In this podcast, you will listen to Dr. Sonja talk about he...
Apr 26, 2021•36 min
Brandy is such a joy! During this podcast, the award-winning author chats about her early writing experiences growing up, and how it felt taking on a less traditional path in regards to her carreer. Brandy has writing a variety of books for young people. Her books have been chosen for many awards and placed in libraries around the world. But what else does she like to do? Find out some of Brandy's hobbies, such as watching tv and a special type of dance you will never guess! Listen to Brandy sha...
Apr 20, 2021•24 min
Brittany K. Barnett is an attorney, author, and entrepreneur. Her memoir, A Knock at Midnight, was published by The Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, on September 8, 2020 (via website: https://www.brittanykbarnett.com/about) On ItsPersonalPodcast Brittany shares deep insights on her grandmother, and her influence on the family. She shares what family means, and grandma's legacy, who cooks what, and how recipes have been passed down. With Brittany's work, she is busy wor...
Apr 19, 2021•19 min
