During these difficult times for the world, it’s hard to share personal happiness. Yet when we acknowledge the small moments of light in our lives, maybe we are, in some small way, fighting larger injustices – by not giving in to them and not giving them the power to rob us of happiness. It’s in this spirit that I write this blogpost and share my excitement today regarding an upcoming event: Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I’m headed to Ulaanbaatar this evening. I remember as a child I had to be able to mark “Ulanbatoor” (as we spelled it in India), on a blank map for my geography exam in 10th grade. If you aren’t sure where it is, perhaps this photo below will give you a clue?

I’m thrilled and grateful to be invited to speak at schools in other parts of the world, despite the censorship that unfortunately continues here at home. But of course, there is love and support for my work here, too One of the highlights this year was being at The Highlights Foundation online. I had the pleasure to teach the first part of a 2-part mini writing workshop yesterday and Aida Salazar will continue today. If you missed it and want to take part, you can still register and listen to the recording of what I did and listen to Aida live tonight. You can register here.

The end of this year was not the easiest for me as I lost a dear friend, who was also a shining star in the world of children’s literature: Prof. Dr. Donna Gilton, with whom I tried – briefly, before my daughter was – to secure funding for a conference to showcase and highlight diversity in kid lit (now, of course, the KWELI conference does just this, beautifully). If you haven’t read Donna’s groundbreaking volume on Multicultural Literature in the United States, you may wish to add it to your shelf.

I’m honored to share that I’ll be doing an event with PEN/SCBWI in January. It’s entirely free and registration details can be found here: https://www.scbwi.org/join-scbwi-and-pen-america-for-free-online-workshops

I’ll also be teaching at Sarah Lawrence college again this spring – doing an online workshop with generative prompts and group workshops guided in part by two books that dovetail with my writing philosophy: CRAFT IN THE REAL WORLD and THE ANTI-RACIST WRITER’S WORKSHOP. To join me, please visit: https://slc.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&int_class_id=163&int_category_id=0&int_sub_category_id=0&int_catalog_id=0

I want to end by sending a small gift your way – a free poetry prompt. If you’re a writer or teacher, I hope you’ll enjoy it: https://www.highlightsfoundation.org/2023/11/20/conveying-and-understanding-emotions-through-powerful-poetry-a-verse-novel-example/

In whatever way you might celebrate the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, or even if you aren’t in a celebrating space given all that is going on right now, I want to thank you for staying in touch with me via this newsletter, and send my very best wishes for a peaceful year ahead, to you, personally, and to our whole world.

Warm wishes from chilly New England,

Padma