April 03, 2024

Ep. 20: Finding Audience: Cynthia Leitich Smith on Story as a Circle and Making Magic Out of Nothing

1 hour

Here are select highlights from our conversation with NYtimes bestselling, award-winning author Cynthia Leitich Smith:

Story as a circle, gathering, and communal effort

Figuring out where your voice can best serve and where your heart beats with hope

Building on “and” instead of “vs”

Inviting people into the conversation AND being a part of the conversation

Social media dynamics as both tricky and powerful

Approaches to book promotion that start locally

How we can never surrender progress made by generations before

Only asking kids to take on battles we’re willing to engage in ourselves

Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee) is a NYTimes bestseller, 2024 Southern Mississippi Medallion Winner, and 2021 NSK Neustadt Laureate. Her titles include HEARTS UNBROKEN, which won an American Indian Youth Literature Award, the anthology ANCESTOR APPROVED, an Indigenous PETER PAN retelling titled SISTERS OF THE NEVERSEA, HARVEST HOUSE, which is one of five Bram Stoker Award® Nominees for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel, and—the BLUE STARS series, also by Kekla Magoon and Molly Murakami. Cynthia looks forward to ON A WING AND A TEAR for middle graders. She is the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint of HarperChildren’s.

Website: https://cynthialeitichsmith.com/

IG: @cynthialeitichsmith

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