February 29, 2016 (Washington DC) – We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) is thrilled to announce a sustaining donation of $25,000 from the LJTJ Fund. Author Cordelia Jensen nominated WNDB for the award. The donation is earmarked to fund WNDB’s Walter Awards, Walter Grants, and Internship Grants going forward.
The Walter Award, named in honor of the late children’s literature luminary Walter Dean Myers, recognizes the best diverse children’s book written by a diverse author in a given year. The Walter Grants seek to provide financial support to diverse writers who demonstrate outstanding writing skills. The WNDB Internship Grant provides supplemental funding for diverse college students interested in the publishing industry as a career.
“We’re so grateful for donors like the LJTJ Fund whose gift brings us closer to our vision of a world in which all children can see themselves in the pages of a book,” said WNDB president Ellen Oh. “And a special thank you to Ms. Jensen for facilitating this sustaining donation.”
We Need Diverse BooksTM is a 501(c)(3) organization established in 2014 to address the lack of diverse representation in the children’s publishing industry. The WNDB Walter Awards, Walter Grants, and Internship Grants are a few of the initiatives funded or supported by WNDBTM. More about the organization is available at www.weneedwndb.local.
Cordelia Jensen is the author of SKYSCRAPING (Philomel/Penguin), her 2015 debut YA novel in verse that was named a Best Young Adult Book by ALA. THE EXCAVATION OF LINCOLN MALONE, another YA novel in verse, is forthcoming from Philomel/Penguin in 2018. Cordelia teaches Creative Writing at Bryn Mawr College and is also a Writer in Residence at the Big Blue Marble Bookstore, where she runs a kids’ literary journal. Cordelia is represented by Sara Crowe of Harvey Klinger, Inc. You can find her at www.cordeliajensen.com and on Twitter @cordeliajensen
