Febuary 17th 2-4 PM (PT) Chapter Meeting: Crafting Authentic, Historically Marginalized Voices in Picture Books
Feb 17, 2024
Online event
Meeg Pincus (she/her, author), Meridth McKean Gimbel (they/them, illustrator), and Kelly Delaney (she/her, editor) will each discuss creating sensitive and authentic portrayals of historically-marginalized (in this case, transgender) people. They also will walk us through brief exercises to dive deeper into the process of this kind of picture book creating—Meeg on writing, Meridth on illustrating, and Kelly on acquiring top-quality PBs by and about historically-marginalized creators, characters and communities in today’s climate—all helping us hone our own ideas and works in progress!
Meeg Pincus, Author
Meeg Pincus (she/her) writes nonfiction picture books about “solutionaries” who help people, animals, and the planet—including Winged Wonders, Cougar Crossing, Ocean Soup, Miep and the Most Famous Diary, Make Way for Animals!, So Much More to Helen!, Door by Door, and 17 early readers. Her books have received numerous awards (The Cook Prize; The Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award; Golden Kite, Eureka!, and Green Earth Books Honor Awards), starred reviews (Kirkus, Booklist, School Library Journal), and spots on best book lists (NCTE, NSTA, Bank Street College, Kirkus, A Mighty Girl & more). Meeg is a long-time nonfiction writer/editor, educator, and diverse books advocate. She grew up and lives with her family in Southern California and can be found online at www.MeegPincus.com.
Meridth McKean Gimbel, Illustrator
Meridth McKean Gimbel (they/them) is a nonbinary illustrator, author, and cheese connoisseur. They are passionate about creating books that are like a snuggly blanket, an open window, and a very accessible door. And they are pleased to say they have been the recipient of many awards including the National SCBWI-LA Mentorship award (2015), an Honorable Mention for the Best PB manuscript at the SCBWI Midsouth Conference (2019), and Best Portfolio in Show at the SCBWI Golden Gate Conference (2021), which is pretty neat. Meridth lives with their bff, kids, and a lovable rescue pup that is not to be trusted. They are happily rep'd by Allie Levick at Writers House, and hope to continue making books until the ripe old age of 103.
Kelly Delaney, Editor, Crown Books for Young Readers
Kelly Delaney (she/her) is an Editor at Crown Books for Young Readers, where she acquires and edits books for young readers of all ages. She has a master’s degree in Publishing: Digital and Print Media from NYU and has been at Random House Children's Books for twelve years. Books she has edited include Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card by Sara Saedi, Lucy and Linh by Alice Pung, and Grandma's Purse by Vanessa Brantley-Newton, and she has been fortunate enough to work with many of her favorite authors, from R.J. Palacio and Markus Zusak to Anita Lobel and Norton Juster. At Crown, she focuses on books by and about marginalized creators, characters, and communities.