The Search for a Sensitivity Reader - More than Sixty Years Ago
Title and/or Affiliation
Visiting Professor of English, Hollins University
Presenter Bio
Claudia Mills is Associate Professor Emerita of Philosophy at the University of Colorado and teaches in the graduate programs in children's literature at Hollins University. The author of over 60 books for young readers, she has published numerous children's literature articles, including work on Louisa May Alcott, Maud Hart Lovelace, and Eleanor Estes.
Session
Panel: Historical Perspectives
Location
Zoom
Start Date
8-7-2022 11:00 AM
End Date
8-7-2022 12:15 PM
Abstract
As hostile attacks are increasingly mounted against the role of sensitivity readers in contemporary publishing, it is helpful to look to the past for examples of prominent writers who employed the services of early readers who could review their work for accurate and respectful representation of marginalized groups. This talk examines the journey taken by Maud Hart Lovelace (author of the still-beloved Betsy-Tacy books) to create a work in the 1960s that would feature a non-white protagonist, exploring the measures she took to ensure accuracy in her presentation of an African American child in The Valentine Box.
The Search for a Sensitivity Reader - More than Sixty Years Ago
Zoom
As hostile attacks are increasingly mounted against the role of sensitivity readers in contemporary publishing, it is helpful to look to the past for examples of prominent writers who employed the services of early readers who could review their work for accurate and respectful representation of marginalized groups. This talk examines the journey taken by Maud Hart Lovelace (author of the still-beloved Betsy-Tacy books) to create a work in the 1960s that would feature a non-white protagonist, exploring the measures she took to ensure accuracy in her presentation of an African American child in The Valentine Box.
Comments
Moderated by Dhonielle Clayton