Children’s Book Award Conference in Athens!

Working at a children’s bookstore, I get to talk excitedly about children’s literature with people all the time, but that doesn’t mean I don’t adore and appreciate other festivals and conferences too! It just so happens there’s a great one happening in Athens in early March. Since she’s helping organize the whole thing, and is a huge kidlit fan, I invited my friend Margret Robbins, University of Georgia’s Graduate Assistant for the Red Clay Writing Project and GCBA Children’s Literature Conference, to tell us a little bit about it:

Greetings, my fellow children’s and YA literature lovers! I hope you’ll join me at the 45th Annual Georgia Children’s Book Awards and Conference on Children’s Literature March 7-8 at the UGA Hotel and Conference Center in Athens, Georgia. I want to make people more aware of exciting new children’s literature. Our conference features keynotes and small workshops with outstanding, award-winning authors and illustrators Gregory Christie, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Jennifer Holm, and Jodi Moore. I had the privilege of reviewing proposals; we have many talented educators, writers, and scholars who will present ways to better integrate children’s literature in all areas of the curriculum. The conference is a place to experience children’s literature as an art form, and to find high quality literature to share with young people. It is also the site for the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl state-level competition, during which the students answer quiz-bowl questions about the books on the Georgia Children’s Book Awards Nominee Lists, both for the Picture Storybook Award and the Georgia Book (Grades 4-8) Award. As a former Reading Bowl Coach, I am proud that my department supports the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl and the Georgia Children’s Book Awards programs.

To register, please visit our website, and in the words of John Green, one of my favorite YA literature writers, “don’t forget to be awesome.”