Corrie Wang and Dhonielle Clayton in conversation
Corrie Wang (Wang rhymes with song) is passionate about libraries, recycling, and eating all the food, everywhere. Corrie grew up in Buffalo but spent her formative years in Brooklyn, where one of her last paying gigs was managing a three-story nightclub on the Lower East Side. Writing to fix things that make her angry and explore things that frighten her, Corrie’s novels are about girls unapologetically conquering scenarios they should have little control over. Tired of seeing women and girls lose in this culture - spoiler - they never do in her stories. Her debut novel, The Takedown was chosen as one of the best books of 2017 by the New York Public Library and a 2018 YALSA selection for Best Fiction for Young Adults. City of Beasts, publication of which we're celebrating this evening, is her second novel.
Corrie's friend and fellow bookworm and advocate of girl-power Dhonielle Clayton is a former librarian and middle school teacher whose career is devoted especially to giving girls and people of color more to read and write about, more work reflective of the totality of their experiences. She is COO of We Need Diverse Books, a non-profit grassroots organization of children's book lovers founded in 2014 that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry, with the aim of producing and promoting literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people. The Tiny Pretty Things series, co-written with journalist Sona Charaipotra, is set in the cutthroat world of an elite ballet academy. Her newer series The Belles is set in an opulent New Orleans where Beauty is the coveted commodity, and Belles are revered--until they are not.
The two writers will engage in a lively conversation about their own books and about the current state of and issues in publishing for young adults. There is no admission charge, but attendees are encouraged to purchase a book as an act of respect and support for the authors and the store hosting their appearance.
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