Today's column will profile two African-American children's writers who have been recipients of the Coretta Scott King Award. These authors have made lasting contributions to children's literature.
Walter Dean Myers
Walter Dean Myers was born in West Virginia in 1937. His mother died when he was young and he was raised by neighbors who took him to live with them in Harlem, New York. Harlem is where Myers' impressions of the world were set.
Myers' stories and novels paint powerful pictures of the pressures of growing up on big city streets. Myers believes his work has filled a void for African-American youth who yearned for positive reading experiences and role models. He frequently writes about children who share similar economic and ethnic situations with his childhood. Myers understanding of the middle-class world he lives in, and the world of his youth, allows him to bring authority to his work. It is one of the many attributes that has made Myers one of the most important children's and young adult author's writing today.
Myers has two Newbery Honor Book Awards for Scorpions and Somewhere in the Darkness. He is a two-time recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award for "Now is the Time" and "Fallen Angels."
Mildred Taylor
Another African-American writer who has made significant contributions to children's literature is Mildred D. Taylor. Mildred Taylor has won the Coretta Scott King Award three times. In 1991, for her novel The Road to Memphis, 1988 for The Friendship, and 1982 for Let the Circle Be Unbroken. Mildred has also won the Newbery Award for her novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
Mildred was born in Jackson, Miss., but grew up in Toledo, Ohio. She graduated from the University of Toledo and spent two years in Ethiopia with the Peace Corps teaching English and history. When she returned to the United States she received her master of arts degree from the University of California School of Journalism.
Mildred's father was a wonderful storyteller and told many stories of the families past history. Mildred uses these stories as inspiration for her own. There were stories about slavery and the days following slavery. Stories were told about friends and family.
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