Richland Library Main
A Conversation with Renée Watson
Friday, April 21, 2023 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Meet Renée Watson, award-winning author of Piecing Me Together, Maya's Song and co-author of The 1619 Project Born on the Water!
Moderated by Augusta Baker Endowed Chair Dr. Nicole Cooke, Watson will discuss her books, her collaborations, inspirations and more during the 2023 Augusta Baker Lecture. A book signing and reception will follow.
About the Author:
Renée Watson is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, educator, and activist. Her young adult novel, Piecing Me Together (Bloomsbury, 2017) received a Coretta Scott King Award and Newbery Honor. Most recently, she has received the Coretta Scott King Award and a Newbery Honor for Maya's Song (Harper Collins, 2022).
Her poetry and fiction often center around the experiences of black girls and women, and explores themes of home, identity, and the intersections of race, class, and gender. Renée served as Founder and Executive Director of I, Too, Arts Collective, a nonprofit committed to nurturing underrepresented voices in the creative arts, from 2016-2019.
Renée grew up in Portland, Oregon, and splits her time between Portland and New York City.
Learn More | Check Out Her Books
Moderated By:
Dr. Nicole A. Cooke is the Augusta Baker Endowed Chair and a Professor at the University of South Carolina. Her research and teaching interests include human information behavior, critical cultural information studies, and diversity and social justice in librarianship. She was the 2019 Association of Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Excellence in Teaching Award recipient and the 2021 MLK Social Justice Award presented by the University of South Carolina. She has edited and authored several books, including Information Services to Diverse Populations and Fake News and Alternative Facts: Information Literacy in a Post-truth Era.
© Dr. Nicole Cooke
About the Lecture:
Each year's lecture features those in library, children's literature and storytelling professions who espouse Augusta Baker's advocacy for equity, social justice and diverse literature. The event is supported by the Augusta Baker Endowed Chair, Richland Library, the South Carolina Center for Community Literacy and the College of Information and Communications.