On Becoming YPP Laureate:

Interview with Carole Boston Weatherford

Padma Venkatraman: We at Diverse Verse are super thrilled that yet another of our guiding members is a YPP Laureate. Would you share how you heard this news and how it makes you feel?

CAROLE B WEATHERFORD: In August, I received an email to arrange a zoom meeting with Michelle Boone, president of the Poetry Foundation.  I sensed that something good was in the offing. The Zoom meeting confirmed my suspicion. I was elated and shared the news with my 99-year-old mother, for whom I was caregiving and to whom I dictated my first poem at age six. She said, “That’s really important.” I was glad that she lived long enough to experience that moment with me.

Padma Venkatraman: Each YPP laureate has chosen a slightly different focus. What do you plan to give your attention to during your term?

CAROLE B WEATHERFORD: I want to tour states where the banned book movement is most extreme. Five of my 80-plus books have been banned or challenged. I’d also like to build up the Poetry Foundation’s digital archive of contemporary poetry written for children.

Padma Venkatraman: As you know, we at DV are eager to reach out to educators and librarians - do you have any message for them, or for readers in general that you would like to share with us?

CAROLE B WEATHERFORD: Poetry makes music with words and can reach children with diverse learning styles. I urge educators and librarians to share poetry with children not just as lessons but for love of language. Pick a poem per week to read aloud every day.

Padma Venkatraman: Thank you so much for taking time to speak with us. Your message is so important and we wish you the very best of luck in your position!

BIO

The daughter of a printer, Carole Boston Weatherford was practically born with ink in her blood. She began writing at age 6 and soon after saw her poems in print. The incoming Young People’s Poet Laureate, she has authored 80-plus books. Her books have garnered 2 NAACP Image Awards and 18 American Library Association Youth Media Awards, including a Newbery Honor, Coretta Scott King Award and 4 Caldecott Honors. Her career achievements have been recognized with the North Carolina Award for Literature, the Nonfiction Award from the Children’s Book Guild and induction into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame. A retired Fayetteville State University professor, she lives in Maryland. She often collaborates with her son, illustrator and rapper, Jeffery Boston Weatherford.