🎉 Writers of color, get ready! #KweliLitFest25 is coming up October 18-28! By us, for us: Kweli International Literary Festival 2025 is exclusively for emerging #BIPOC writers of adult literature, led by some of the most celebrated writers of color working today!

#BannedBooksWeek is next week. Use this moment to get active in your community in the fight against censorship. Get actionable ideas and resources at bannedbooksweek.org.

Writers of color, get ready! #KweliLitFest25 is coming up OCT 18-28! Kweli International Literary Festival 2025 is exclusively for emerging #BIPOC writers of adult literature, led by some of the most celebrated writers of color working today. We’re thrilled to announce our KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

COVER REVEAL! I'm so, so excited to share the cover for my new epistolary YA novel, IN BETWEEN DAYS! Out May 12, 2026. Preorder link in bio! Designer: Zareen Johnson Artist: Alexis Franklin

🖤🖤 Happy Book Birthday to “MAKE ME A MONSTER” (@bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social) by @kalynnbayron.bsky.social, whom we were thrilled to have at our Color of Children’s Literature Conference in 2023! 🖤🖤

💐❤️ Happy Book Birthday to THIS IS NOT A SMALL VOICE: POEMS BY BLACK POETS (@nosycrowus.bsky.social) by Traci N. Todd, whom we were thrilled to have at our Color of Children’s Literature Conference earlier this year!

✨ REIMAGINED ✨ The Kweli International Literary Festival is back—reimagined for 2025! 🗓️ OPENING WEEKEND: Sat, OCT 18 - Sun, OCT 19 🎶 CLOSING MULTIMEDIA EVENT: Tues, OCT 28 PARTNERS: New York Law School Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns Patrick Dougher Stay tuned for registration announcement!

Here's some amazing news... READING RAINBOW is back and @mychal3ts.bsky.social is the new host! Congrats, Mychal! bookriot.com/new-host-of-...

Saint Heron

Writers of color, get ready! #KweliLitFest25 is coming up OCT 18-28! Kweli International Literary Festival 2025 is exclusively for emerging #BIPOC writers, led by some of the most celebrated writers of color working today. It is our pleasure to introduce this year’s KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

❤️💐 Happy Book Birthday to “Sisters in the Wind” (@henryholtbooks.bsky.social) by Angeline Boulley, a longtime member of the Kweli #kidlit community!

❤️💐 We were thrilled when Shifa Saltagi Safadi joined us at our #kidlit Color of Children’s Literature Conference earlier this year!

🍃Anita Sanchez, author of A Sky That Sings, joins the Lee & Low Open Book Blog in a guest post about the importance of encouraging young people to explore nature & all that it has to offer: www.leeandlow.com/blog/lets-ex... ⛅Learn more about A Sky That Sings: www.leeandlow.com/books/a-sky-...

Happy #Bookbirthday to the paperback edition of BLACK GIRL YOU ARE ATLAS by Renée Watson and featuring fine art by Ekua Holmes! This Coretta Scott King Honor Book and winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award is a thoughtful celebration of Black girlhood.

I’m auctioning this gouache painting I did for The Rights of Every Child to raise funds for Gaza 🇵🇸 ❤️ Every $10 donation to Friendship Team Gaza = 1 entry ❤️ Open internationally (ships from US) ❤️ DM me with proof of donation ❤️ Winner will be contacted by Friday Sep 5 tinyurl.com/Friendship-G...

🎉 Congrats to @jyotigopal.bsky.social! 📚 ONE SWEET SONG was named a 2025 BANK STREET BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (Age Under 5). Illustrated by Sonia Sánchez. Published by Candlewick Press. #kidlit #12x12PB

🖤🕸️ Happy Book Birthday to THE LAST RESORT by @erinentrada.bsky.social, two-time Newbery #kidlit award winner we were thrilled to have as a keynote speaker at our Color of Children’s Literature Conference earlier this year!

Congratulations to National Book Award winning and two-time Newbery Medal winning author @erinentrada.bsky.social on the release of the fourth book in her delightful illustrated middle grade MARISOL RAINEY series. Happy Book Birthday and Welcome to the World, YOUR TURN MARISOL RAINEY

❤️💐 Happy Book Birthday to HOW TO BE UNMOTHERED: A Trinidadian Memoir by @camilleuadams.bsky.social, whom we were honored to have published in Kweli Journal!

#KidLit4Ceasefire is doing a sumer fundraiser! Most funds will be going to families in need in Gaza, as well as immigrant and trans rights. I have four copies of my MG debut, THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER OF SENECA, available, and there are tons of other cool prizes! www.32auctions.com/WeThePeopleS...

Kwame Alexander Launches Nonprofit to Boost Love of Reading, Writing The organization, One Word at a Time, will focus on kids 8-15 and run multiple initiatives, including virtual visits from Kwame Alexander and other kid lit authors, as well as a Teacher Study program. www.slj.com/story/newsfe...

We were thrilled to have Shifa Saltagi Safadi, author of KAREEM BETWEEN, at Kweli’s #kidlit Color of Children’s Literature Conference this past year!

LESS THAN 3 WEEKS LEFT TO SUBMIT! Have you submitted your book(s) for the Pedro and Daniel Intersectionality Book Awards? Details ➡️ bit.ly/RYWawards #PADIBA #PADIBA2026 #Intersectionality #IntersectionalBooks #DiverseBooks #PedroAndDaniel @readyourworld.bsky.social #kidlit #kidlitcommunity

One of the core values of the #sealeychallenge is to engage with diverse voices. What new voices have you read this summer?

📚 Who’s doing the #SealeyChallenge this year?

❤️💐 Happy Book Birthday to DANCING WITH WATER (Kokila) by Gwendolyn Wallace, who joined us last year at our #kidlit Color of Children’s Literature Conference!

One week till we launch 🔥🔥🔥 HOW TO BE UNMOTHERED: a Trinidadian memoir Link in bio for tickets 🔗 Come in person or livestream. See you there 💛

My publisher released four of my novels with new gorgeous covers by the great Yuko Shimizu. They’re calling it the LaValle Quartet though each book stands alone. Just look at these things! They’re in bookstores now. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/LVQ/t...

This event last night felt meaningful to me. I appreciated the chance to connect with legislators from CO and MI and as far as AK on the freedom to read. There are lots of people working to pass good laws supporting the freedom to read, there's momentum behind passing them.

❤️💐❤️ Happy Book Birthday to THIS HERE IS LOVE (@wwnorton.com) by Princess Joy L. Perry, out today!

❤️💐 Happy Book Birthday to FALL IS FOR BEGINNINGS by longtime Kweli fam @rajanilarocca.bsky.social and @abhialwar.bsky.social! 🍁

💐❤️💐 We love seeing this!

Today I will be speaking at this event on the freedom to read. Looking forward to meeting some state legislators! Thanks to @beaconpress.bsky.social for hosting and to @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social for helping set this up. #massfreedomtoread @authorsabb.bsky.social

Excited to see “Song of My Softening” (@alicejamesbooks.bsky.social) by @omotarajames.bsky.social on the list!

Massachusetts/Watertown area — you have a chance to show up for libraries and support the freedom to read tomorrow, Thursday 7/31 in Watertown! Please share! #bannedbooks #massfreedomtoread

We love reading @yvettel.bsky.social! And we were thrilled when she joined us at Kweli’s International Literary Festival in 2023!

Today at 4:30 ET!

It’s a gorgeous day in Boston to support the freedom to read! #MassFreedomToRead @massaabb.bsky.social @authorsabb.bsky.social

✨Lee & Low is all about getting diverse, multicultural books into the hands of those that need them most — kids! From Pre-K to YA, we have it all. 📚Right now, you can use our back to school discount code BTS2025 to receive 40% off your order on our website leeandlow.com!

Laura Pegram, Kweli's founder and editor in chief, spoke with Library Journal about the literary magazine's origin story, the recent anthology SING THE TRUTH, commemorating 15 years of publication, and plans for the future. READ HERE 👇🏿👇🏾👇🏽👇🏼

Hi BlueSky friends! I've missed posting here in a long time. Doing more sketching to avoid doomscrolling. How do you keep your focus? #kidlit ##kidlitart #characterart #sketchpad #sketch #filipinoartist

First review is in and it's a starred Kirkus! Thank you to the anonymous reviewer for reading with such care and generosity, and bringing so much to the pages

⏰ There’s still time to JOIN US! Find community at the Art of the Short Story—a safer space for Black, Indigenous, SWANA, AAPI, Latine, LGBTQ+ writers, led by Kweli Editor/Publisher Laura Pegram. ➤Craft seminars ➤In-class writing ➤Masterworks study ➤Peer reviews LEARN MORE at link in bio👆🏿👆🏾👆🏽

I went on the NYPL's podcast and talked about Octavia Butler and other stuff! Listen here, or on any podcast app. www.bklynlibrary.org/podcasts

Starts TODAY! The Art of the Short Story, an online intensive for #BIPOC writers with Kweli Founder / Editor Laura Pegram! Part loving bootcamp, part craft seminar, this workshop features in-class writing, close study of works by authors of color, feedback + MORE. FULL DETAILS at bio link 👆🏿

⏰ Starts TOMORROW! Find community at the Art of the Short Story—a safer space for Black, Indigenous, SWANA, AAPI, Latine, LGBTQ+ writers, led by Kweli Editor/Publisher Laura Pegram. ➤Craft seminars ➤In-class writing ➤Masterworks study ➤Peer reviews LEARN MORE at link in bio👆🏿👆🏾👆🏽

I was thrilled to be interviewed by the wonderful Juana Summers for @npr.org All Things Considered!—I talked about my new book Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays and Writings. www.npr.org/2025/07/03/n...

📣 #BIPOC Writers Find community at the Art of the Short Story—a safer space for Black, Indigenous, SWANA, AAPI, Latine, LGBTQ+ writers, led by Kweli Editor/Publisher Laura Pegram. ➤Craft seminars ➤In-class writing ➤Masterworks study ➤Peer reviews LEARN MORE at link in bio👆🏿👆🏾👆🏽

The 2026 Pedro and Daniel Intersectionality Book Awards are open for submissions through 8/31/25. Traditionally Published / Intersectional Protagonist. Two $1500 prizes. For details: bit.ly/RYWawards #ReadYourWorld #PADIBA #PADIBA2026 #Intersectionality #IntersectionalBooks #WeNeedDiverseBooks

❤️💐 Happy Book Birthday to “Blood in the Water” by Tiffany D. Jackson, whom we were thrilled to have at our #kidlit Color of Children’s Literature Conference in 2019!