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June 2020
Headshot of Natalie Obando
Dear Friends and Members of the WNBA,

I come into this new role as the organization’s president humbled, determined, and excited.

These past few months have drastically changed the world we live in. Never did I think that I would be stepping into the role during a pandemic and the largest civil rights movement in history. I am humbled that our organization and its members trust me to lead them through these times of uncertainty.

As a 102-year-old organization, we’ve gone through pandemics, wars, civil unrest, and social movements before and persevered. If history has taught us anything, it’s that one group of people can change the trajectory of an entire establishment. We’ve seen this with the success of the WNBA propelling women in the literary community over the last century. What was once a male-dominated world is now lead by women. 

But where do we go from here? I am a firm believer that in order to move forward we must first assess where we are and I, along with the rest of our amazing board, am determined to focus on equity for Women of Color in the book world.

I am excited to begin highlighting some amazing programs that our organization has initiated. We hope that these programs will give a platform to BIPOC in the book world and help to bring a platform for equity, inclusivity, and change.

As a brown woman, and the organization’s first Latina president, I know that our organization is not perfect. I and other women of color have longed for diversity and equity in programming. It is with your continued support that my presidency will be focused on creating a space for more voices to be heard. I am grateful to be surrounded by members — in all of our chapters across the nation and on our boards and committees — who are also committed to representation, diversity, and inclusivity. 

I want you all to know that I appreciate you and your involvement with our organization. Now is the time for our members and our community to become involved. Together, we can make meaningful changes in the book world.

I, for one, am excited by the possibilities.

Sincerely,
 
Natalie Obando-Desai (LA)
President
Women's National Book Association (WNBA)
WNBA 2020 Pannell Award Recipients
Susan Knopf
by Susan Knopf (NYC)

The WNBA 2020 Pannell Award recipients are:

General Bookstore: Bookpeople in Austin, Texas
Children’s Specialty Bookstore: Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Georgia
Bookpeople's Teen Press Corps
Upon hearing the good news , Bookpeople's children’s book buyer and programming director, Meghan Dietsche Goel, responded, “BookPeople is so honored to be acknowledged by the WNBA Pannell Award this year. Like every bookstore in the country, we are working hard to reimagine what it means to serve our community right now — to continue to build a love of reading in young readers and foster necessary conversations through books in challenging times. Being an indie bookseller has always meant embracing change, offering what our local communities need most, and always finding new ways to rise to the challenge.” 

Jurors noted BookPeople’s many contributions to Austin, their outreach, and non-stop energy that makes them one of the great stores in this country.
Mac Barnett & Mike Lowery at Little Shop of Stories
Justin Colussy-Estes, the store manager of Little Shop of Stories, said, "We are thrilled that Little Shop of Stories has been awarded the 2020 WNBA Pannell Award. What a gift to be given right now! We have not had a customer in our store for two months. Our methods have had to change, but our mission has not: to foster empathy, creativity, and bravery in children through books. The children will return. The visits and the story times and the parties and the camps . . . they'll be back. Until then, we wish love, safety, and hope to all of our readers and fellow booksellers. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Our hearts are full today."

Jurors lauded their mix of creativity and knowledge of just the right thing for each customer to help make readers out of their little ones.
Storytime with Therapy Dogs at Little Shop of Stories
This year, dozens of bookstores spread across the country received enthusiastic nominations from avid customers, authors, bookstore employees, and publishing professionals.

A five-member jury selected the award recipients. The winning bookstores each receive a check for $1,000. In addition, they receive a piece of signed, original artwork.

This year, celebrated children’s illustrators who contributed artwork are Elisha Cooper ( River, Orchard Books/Scholastic) and Denise Fleming ( This Is the Nest That Robin Built, Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster).

The WNBA Pannell Award jurors for 2020 are:
  • Bina Williams, Children’s Librarian, Bridgeport Public Library
  • Brenda Bowen, Literary Agent, The Book Group
  • Eileen Robinson, Founder and Publisher, Move Books
  • Emily Romero, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Penguin Young Readers  
  • Phoebe W. Yeh, Vice President and Publisher, Crown Books for Young Readers

The WNBA Pannell Award co-chairs are WNBA-NYC members Susan Knopf, founder and president of Scout Books & Media, and Gloria Koster, children’s author and librarian. Knopf announced the awards during the BookExpo Online Children’s Book and Author Dinner.

Since 1983, the Pannell Award has been one of the most prestigious honors in children’s bookselling. Along with the WNBA, Penguin Young Readers Group co-sponsors the award, which was established in honor of Lucille Micheels Pannell, founding member of one of the WNBA chapters.
Join the Freedom Festival from July 12-19
Questions by Tina Ollenburg (Network)
Answers from Cleyvis Natera (NYC)

Writer and WNBA-NYC member, Cleyvis Natera, is the co-founder of the Alive at 89 Toni Morrison Festival and the Love as a Kind of Cure digital gathering.

These events feature creative leaders who tackle the issues of racial justice and inequality through their art. A new week-long event, the Freedom Festival , will take place July 12-19. Since it will all occur virtually, you can attend from wherever you are! Cleyvis talks more about the festival and Love as a Kind of Cure's mission below:
TO: How did you come up with the idea for the festival? What made you want to take on this project? 

CN: My co-founder, Magogodi Makhene, and I came up with the concept of a virtual festival as a direct response to the Covid-19 pandemic. When we realized that the pandemic was affecting members of our community — Black and Brown —disproportionately, we decided to put together a series of events with artists as leaders, discussing tough topics like racial disparities and health inequities, from a love-centered place. The purpose is to activate all members of our society to seek remedies to these painful social inequities.

Our next festival, Love as a Kind of Cure’s FREEDOM FESTIVAL , is in response to the Black Lives Matter Movement currently taking place in the USA and beyond. We want to activate every day citizens to make a difference in their every day life towards a just and equitable world that extends beyond the protests and ensures lasting change.

TO: Do you have advice for how WNBA members across the country can help support this mission?  

CN: First, please follow us via Instagram at @lovekindcure. We are currently in a 30-day-anti-racist challenge where each day we provide an activity (a link, a book, a Ted talk, an article, etc.) that will help expand our conversation and deepen our empathy for the work ahead.

We’d also love to extend a warm invitation to all members of the WNBA to join our Freedom Festival. It is all virtual and will take place from July 12–July 19 .

TO: What type of performances/events will be at the Freedom Festival? How was the experience of seeing all of your planning come to fruition in previous festivals? 

CN: Just like our Covid-19 x Inequity Festival ( which took place April 19-26 ), our Freedom Festival will be a combination of music, live art, literary discussions, as well as a cook-along and chef’s discussion to enlighten folks to the historical significance of African American food and equity.

We’re also going to put a lot of focus on self-care and how to ensure we each prioritize kindness to ourselves first, so we can be invigorated for the long, sustainable journey towards social transformation.

We are so proud of the first festival. The feedback was absolutely amazing. Both the creatives who took part in the event as well as the participants all raved about the activities. Our goal is to create a space where we can all engage in the difficult conversations because these conversations must happen in order for our culture to shift toward equity. We aim to do it in this joyful, and loving way, and people responded so warmly to that.

TO: What are your hopes for Love As a Kind of Cure in the future?

CN: We plan to continue to engage our growing audience in conversations around difficult topics and to leverage creatives as leaders who can help us understand the individual's role in social transformation movements.

In November, we plan to have another Love As a Kind of Cure festival around Gratitude x Friendsgiving. We’ll keep challenging each other to learn, and grow, and spread love across all our differences.


Cleyvis Natera is a writer, and a member of the WNBA-NYC Chapter. Follow her on instagram at @cleyvisnatera and follow @lovekindcure to find out more about the Freedom Festival.
Join or Renew Today
Headshot of Julie L. Frey Editor in Chief of the Bookwoman
by Julie L. Frey (Greater Philadelphia)

Our 2020/2021 membership year began June 1, so we encourage you to join or renew now in order to access our upcoming events and programs.

If you join or renew now, you'll be able to:

  • attend our members-only events
  • participate in our programs
  • belong to the Bookwoman Book Club
  • hold a workshop or webinar
  • join our members-only Facebook groups
  • promote your news, books, podcasts, businesses, services, and blogs
  • enter our writing contests for free or reduced fees
  • volunteer to help with an event or be on a committee
  • network with fellow booklovers!

If you join or renew now, your membership will be valid through May 31, 2021.

We hope you'll join us!
Upcoming Events
June 30: Bookwoman Book Club Discussion for Mornings with Rosemary by Libby Page at 9 pm EDT/8 pm CDT/6 pm PDT. On Zoom and streamed to our Bookwoman Book Club Facebook group. Members Only.

July 2: WNBA Author Talk with Libby Page at 2 pm EDT/1 pm CDT/11 am PDT. Streamed to our WNBA Talks Books Facebook group. Members Only.

July 9: Writing Webinar: Writing during a Crisis  at 7:30 pm EDT/6:30 pm CDT/4:30 pm PDT. On Zoom and livestreamed to our WNBA Talks Books Facebook group. Members Only.

July 14: Charlotte’s Book Club Meeting at 7 pm EDT/6 pm CDT/4 pm PDT. Hosted by WNBA-Charlotte. On Zoom. Open to all. Register.

July 17: Writing Webinar: Write to Influence! For Fiction at 4 pm EDT/3 pm CDT/ 1 pm PDT. On Zoom and livestreamed to our WNBA Talks Books Facebook group. Members Only.

July 18: Post Pitch-O-Rama Expert AMA (Ask Me Anything): Next Steps to Getting Published at 3 pm EDT/2 pm CDT/12 pm PDT. On Zoom. Free to Ptich-O-rama PLUS 2020 attendees, $20 for WNBA-SF members, $35 general admission. Register .

July 25: Effie Lee Morris WNBA Literary Awards at 2 pm EDT/1 pm CDT/5 pm PDT. Hosted by WNBA-San Francisco. On Zoom. Open to all. Register .

July 28: Bookwoman Book Club Discussion for The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner at 9 pm EDT/8 pm CDT/6 pm PDT. On Zoom and livestreamed to our Bookwoman Book Club Facebook group. Members Only.

July 30: WNBA Author Talk with Susan Meissner at 9 pm EDT/8 pm CDT/6 pm PDT. On Zoom and livestreamed to our WNBA Talks Books Facebook group. Open to all.
Remembering Deirdre Bair
Roz Reisner
by Rosalind Reisner (NYC)

Deirdre Bair, who died In April, was a long time supporter and member of the WNBA-NYC chapter. She was the award-winning biographer of Samuel Beckett, Simone de Beauvoir, Carl Jung, Al Capone, and several others.

Deirdre was introduced to the NYC chapter by her good friend and (at the time) WNBA-NYC President, Jane Kinney-Denning who thought it would be a fruitful partnership, and so it was. Together, they organized an important panel for the chapter that was held at Pace University on the topics of biography and women writing on women’s lives. Several members of the Women Writing Women’s Lives Biography Seminar at CUNY (which Deirdre helped found) were panelists. In another program, “In Conversation with Deirdre Bair,” Jane interviewed Deirdre at the Strand bookstore about her life and work.

For the WNBA Centennial Celebration in October 2017, Deirdre moderated a wonderful panel discussion that included the Georgia O’Keefe biographer and novelist, Roxana Robinson, author and cultural critic, Margo Jefferson, and author and bookstore owner, Emma Straub. She was a friend and mentor to many people in the chapter and a great supporter of the mission of the WNBA.
(l to r) Straub, Jefferson, Robinson, and Baire.
Valerie Tomaselli, former national WNBA president writes, “ Deirdre Bair was remarkable — open-hearted, warm, and intelligent. I felt this from the first time Jane introduced us at a WNBA event. When we called on her for help on the Centennial — with promotion for the WNBA Centennial book and chairing the panel that would be a centerpiece for the Celebration — she didn’t hesitate. She was in our corner, with all the clarity and honesty she brought to her book projects. It’s no wonder that de Beauvoir, Beckett, and the others let her into their lives!”

Susan Knopf, co-chair of the WNBA Pannell Award Committee, remembered Deirdre with these words: “I was lucky to meet Deirdre Bair through friends and fellow members of the WNBA and found her remarkable from the outset. Some losses you feel quite personally. Others, like this one, also leave you bereft for the greater world which has lost such an important voice. We’re so lucky to have Deirdre’s writings to keep her voice, wisdom, and wit with us for years to come.”

Deirdre’s support of the Women’s National Book Association was a remarkable gift to many and she will be sorely missed. Below is a piece written by Rosalind Reisner for her blog, A Reader’s Place.

A Remembrance of Deirdre Bair

I was privileged to know Deirdre Bair, who I met several years ago through my friend Jane Kinney-Denning. It was a delight to know her. Sadly, she died last month. Although Deirdre was in her eighties and had several critically acclaimed books to her credit, she was excitedly working on another project, a book about T.S. Eliot. She didn't shy away from complex, difficult topics! She was always kind, elegant, and made you feel like your words were important to her.

She started out as a journalist, then went back to graduate school for a degree in Comparative Literature. Her thesis was on the novelist and dramatist Samuel Beckett. She had a different approach to his work, one that incorporated his life as an Irish writer into an understanding of his writing. This was during the time when that approach was anathema in academia. The text was all!

She decided to write to Beckett to see if he would cooperate with her on a biography. To her delight, he was willing. In an enigmatic and revealing comment, he said that he would "neither help nor hinder her." She began several years of traveling back and forth to Paris to talk to him, to his friends, and to do research. She had a variety of experiences with various factions of friends, each of whom had his or her own agenda (often self-serving), to protect Beckett from this young biographer. Bair was caught up in the turmoil of personalities, trying to unearth the truth, determined to verify stories from multiple sources. Beckett, true to his word, didn't help or hinder her. Many people thought this young woman was not up to the job of writing Beckett's biography. It was not easy for her to persevere.

Bair won the National Book Award in 1981 when the paperback edition of Samuel Beckett: A Biography was published, a great vindication of her talents and perseverance. She went on to write an acclaimed biography of Simone de Beauvoir , also while the author was still alive. Bair's subsequent biographies of Carl Jung , Anais Nin, Saul Steinberg , and Al Capone were all written after the subjects' deaths.

It's important to understand that these biographies were written by a woman who struggled to hone her craft in a time when women were disdained for the kind of work she did. How could a woman do important literary work? Biography was looked down upon by academic faculty members. She taught in a university but was refused tenure. She still had to fulfill the responsibilities of a mother and homemaker. She writes about the hours of cooking and filling the freezer before she went to France, and the guilt of being so involved in her work.
Pulitzer Prize Finalist
I know all this because her last book was about the years she spent writing the biographies of Beckett and de Beauvoir. It's called Parisian Lives: Samuel Beckett, Simone de Beauvoir, and Me . In it, she was able to tell some of the stories that she couldn't put in the book. I spoke to Bair when she started working on the book: she was having a hard time writing about herself, after years of never putting her own life in her writing. What could she call the genre of the book? I sent her a quote from Ursula LeGuin: "Genre, a word only a Frenchman could love." She liked that.

It's very sad to realize that she's gone. My nonfiction book group is reading Parisian Lives this month and I was hoping that Deirdre would Zoom with us at our next meeting so they all could meet her. But it's not just sad for me; she's a great loss to the literary community, where she was not only a great writer, but also a support for writers in general through her years of serving on the board of the Authors Guild. You can read her obituary here . You can also hear her speak about Parisian Lives at a talk she gave in November at the Philadelphia Free Library. Enjoy.
Deirdre Bair received the National Book Award for  Samuel Beckett: A Biography . Her most recent book, Parisian Lives , was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and her biographies of Simone de Beauvoir and Carl Jung were finalists for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Simone de Beauvoir biography was chosen by  The New York Times  as a Best Book of the Year. Her biography of Anaïs Nin and her book,  Saul Steinberg: A Biography,  were both  New York Times  Notable Books.
Summer Reading Recommendations
By Tina Ollenburg (Network)

It's hard to believe, but summer is officially in full swing! While the beach getaways might be on hold, summer reading doesn't have to be! Grab a refreshing drink, find a sunny spot, and enjoy this season's great new book releases. Here are just a few recommendations:
Romance writer January Andrews and literary darling Gus Everett have been rivals since college. When they unexpectedly find themselves neighbors for the summer, they make a bet to switch genres. The only rule? No falling in love. A fun read with a deeper exploration of trust and family at its center.
Identical twin sisters Desiree and Stella Vignes run away from their small Black community in Lousiana at age 16. Out in the wider world, they take very different paths. Ten years later, Desiree returns to her hometown, escaping an abusive husband with her young daughter. Stella is secretly passing as White, keeping her past from her new family. From 1968 to the 1990s, the book explores how the two sisters' lives continue to diverge and intersect.
When 68-year-old Astrid witnesses a fatal school bus accident, it triggers a memory of her young parenting days that doesn't reflect well on her as a mother. Realizing life is short, she strives to make things better with her three adult children. But they all have secrets and challenges of their own now. As the book switches perspectives between the members of this family, it explores themes of parenting, mortalty, sexuality, and much more.
Set in 1950s Mexico, this suspenseful horror novel begins when Noemi Taboada receives a letter from her recently married cousing begging for help. A glamourous debutante, Noemi is an unlikely savior, but she heads to High Place, the country house of her cousin's new English husband. Once there, the house's strange power begins to take over. Noemi struggles to unearth the truth about this family and its violent past, but she may not be able to escape once she does.
The characters of this murder mystery have all gathered on a remote island off the Irish coast for a wedding weekend celebration. As a storm causes high winds and power outages, we switch between different POVs to reveal the buried secrets and hidden motives of each person. By the end of the weekend, someone is murdered. The question is who.
Member News
Susanne Tedrick's (NYC) debut book Women of Color in Tech: A Blueprint for Inspiring and Mentoring the Next Generation of Technology Innovators , was published on April 14 by Wiley. The book seeks to inform and inspire women of color to pursue tech careers.

Carren Strock's (South Florida) newest book was p ublished in March. Secret Survivors ,  a middle grade chapter book, is a gripping story about children trapped and struggling to stay alive when a blizzard hits the mountains of Colorado. Unless they learn to work together, no one will survive. Carren is also excited to announce that the third edition of Married Women Who Love Women is now available. It has been updated to speak to evolving sexual and emotional mores, the expanding consciousness of sexual attraction, orientation, fluidity and identity.

Lisa Braxton's (Boston) debut novel, The Talking Drum , was published in May. The book centers on three couples and how they're affected when an urban redevelopment project takes over a neighborhood to gentrify it. The Talking Drum explores intra-racial, class, and cross-cultural tensions, along with the meaning of community and belonging.

María Ochoa's (San Francisco) work as a writer-photographer was highlighted in a recent East Bay Times news article about how individuals were coping with the shelter in place orders. The article can be found at here .

Judith Field (San Francisco) gave an author talk for The Original Book Club about her short story "The Foster Child," and she included a discussion of the way Joseph Campbell's hero's journey formula provides structure in the story.

Diane LeBow (San Francisco) ,  BATW President Emerita, has won Traveler’s Tales Solas Awards for Best Travel Writing for two of her stories:
Women in Morocco: Up against the wall but laughing together ” and
“An Unexpected New Year’s in Luxor. “ These are Diane’s 10th and 11th Solas Awards, dating back 13 years. And hurrah! Diane recently finished her travel memoir and is shopping it with publishers. 
 
Ellery Akers’s (San Francisco) new poetry book, Swerve: Environmentalism, Feminism, and Resistance , was recently described by The New York Times Magazine as “powerful.” 
 
Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte's (San Francisco) short story "The Last Collard Green" will be published in the upcoming Colossus:Home anthology. Slated for summer 2020 release, all proceeds will be donated to Oakland's Moms4Housing.
 
Nanci Woody (San Francisco) had seven poems just published online. 

Kate Farrell (San Francisco) released her storytelling book on June 16: Story Power: Secrets to Creating, Crafting, and Telling Memorable Stories .
 
Jeanne Powell (San Francisco) had a poem chosen for an anthology edited by SF Poet Laureate emeritus Jack Hirschman, for publication in summer 2020.
 
B. Lynn Goodwin (San Francisco) had a piece on journaling posted on the San Francisco Writers Conference blog.
 
Writer Advice’s Flash Prose Contest closes on September 1, 2020. Details at www.writeradvice.com . Please click on Current Contest.

Geri Spieler's (San Francisco) book, San Francisco Values: Common Ground For Getting American Back On Track , was published by Palmetto Publishing Group. It looks at America’s values and follows how they began in the Bay Area and then were adopted throughout the rest of the country. While the phrase has garnered some negative responses, in truth, they are America’s values. 

Lisa Braver Moss's (San Francisco) novel Shrug has won the gold in YA fiction in the 2020 IPPYs, as well as the silver in general fiction in the 2020 IBPA Benjamin Franklin awards.

Joan Frank (San Francisco) reviewed Anne Raeff's new novel , Only the River , for the Washington Post.
 
Joan Gelfand (San Francisco) will launch her debut novel, Extreme , on July 14. On July 11 at 12 pm PDT, Joan will be teaching on “Getting Published” with the California Writer’s Club/Orange Country chapter. The presentation will be based on You Can Be a Winning Writer: The 4 C’s of Successful Authors published by Mango Press.
 
Maxine Schur's (San Francisco) advanced picture book Brave with Beauty was named a 2020 Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies by the Children's Book Council. Also, her wacky fun alphabet book, Pigs Dancing Jigs will be published in October by Lawley Publishing.

Beatrice Bowles's (San Francisco) new illustrated storybook, Spider Grandmother’s Web of Wonders , is out and available in all bookstores. 

If you'd like to submit your member news, you can fill out the members' news form on our website.
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The Bookwoman Staff
Editor in Chief : Julie L. Frey (Greater Philadelphia)
Newsletter Managing Editor : Tina Ollenburg (Network)
Assistant Editor : Rachel Slaiman (New York City)
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