Barbadian author Kandace Chimbiri signs three book deal with Scholastic Press
I didn’t grow up thinking I’d be a writer. Although I loved books since I was a child and I loved Black history, I never dreamt of writing Black history books. It began with a desire to create the books that would be available if the world was fair. I noticed a lack of diversity in books for children especially in the non-fiction genre. Most Black history books focused on ‘slavery’ or the US civil rights. There was very little outside these areas.
At the time, I never considered approaching an agent or a publisher –I just didn’t see anyone who was publishing books I felt should be there so I began creating the books myself. I tried to do everything from writing the books, (self) publishing them, storing them (thousands of copies) in my box bedroom and distributing them from there!
As the books, The Story of the Windrush in particular, sold more and more I found I was struggling to keep up with the orders. I am an organized person but my home was becoming chaotic. Needless to say, I had no time to write anymore. All my spare time was spent packaging orders and taking them to the post office. This is especially challenging when you live in a first floor flat with no lift!
I’ve heard about several diversity and inclusion initiatives over the past 18 years but when I walked into bookshops or looked online I saw very little difference in output. That saddened me but I’m really excited now about working with a publisher who is going to make books like these available to a much wider audience.
I feel that Scholastic understand what I want to achieve. They can see the importance of books like The Story of the Windrush and why they are needed in the world right now.
Through Scholastic UK now every single school and library in the UK can easily access this book and use it for history and / or for literacy. It will also be available as an e-book. Order HERE
