US kids authors launch digital festival in wake of cancellations

In the US, a group of children’s authors have launched a digital festival focused on children’s literature, after more than a dozen US literary festivals were cancelled in less than 24 hours last week due to the coronavirus outbreak.

According to Publishers Weekly, the Everywhere Book Festival will feature more than 50 participating authors and illustrators, with the event set to run from 1–2 May.

‘A virtual book festival really has the potential to fill a growing need in the kid lit community,’ said author Christina Soontornvat, who came up with the idea along with fellow author and We Need Diverse Books co-founder Ellen Oh. ‘We need to celebrate stories and uplift each other’s voices now more than ever.’

Organisers also say they are working to ensure disability accessibility for the conference. ‘This is very important to me,’ said Oh. ‘We are exploring our options for captioning and intend to have transcripts available on YouTube for all viewers.’

For more information, see the festival website (due to go live on Wednesday, US time) or follow them on Twitter.

Category: International news Junior