Art(s) on the Air with Antwan Eady

Join Tamara for an interview with Antwan Eady, author of children's book NIGEL AND THE MOON along with upcoming titles MICAH'S RISE, THE LAST STAND, and the YA anthology POEMHOOD. He writes with the intention of occupying a space within literature where the underrepresented may see themselves as the main character. 

NIGEL AND THE MOON - featuring a Black schoolboy who moves past his fear of judgment to share his big dreams with his class during Career Week - has been a HUGE success! It was named a Barnes and Noble Most Anticipated Kid's Book of February, Amazon Editors' Best Books of the Month Pick, Colin Kaepernick's Current Favorite Children's Picture Books, and Today Show Best Children's Read, amongst many other awards. 

https://www.antwaneady.com/
https://www.instagram.com/antwan.eady/

Topics in their chat include:

Antwan having a 10-year-plan in 8th grade; how meeting Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah at Savannah’s Book Festival in 2019 inspired him to start writing; the lack of both characters of color and creatives of color in the book world; his terms "young dreamers" and "young dreamers of color" for children; his edict that "having no agent is better than having a bad agent;" having kept a gratitude journal since 2002, learning to advocate for some down time to recharge during his book tour; and a possible future Christmas rom-com type story! 

 

Bonus! Antwan was kind enough to provide a terrific list of resources for writers.

Podcasts:
 The Manuscript Academy - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-manuscript-academy/id1171799743
 First Draft - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/first-draft-with-sarah-enni/id896407410
 Save the Cat- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/save-the-cat-podcast/id884651026
 Society of Children's Books Illustrators and Writers - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scbwi-podcasts/id1465188050
 The Growing Readers Podcast- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-childrens-book-review-growing-readers-podcast/id1550324351
Books:
 Writer's Market (latest edition) - can be borrowed from local libraries.

 

 

P.S. - During the first few minutes of the interview, you'll hear the train passing by off in the distance, which gives it a real genuine Savannah feel! ;)  

 

Tune in and get all the details!