Author and illustrator Bryan Collier discussed his love of literature and how he got into the publishing industry at Mount Saint Mary College’s 31st Annual Conference on Literacy on Saturday, April 5.
The 31st Annual Conference on Literacy at Mount Saint Mary College, “Exploring Literacy and the Arts in Pursuit of a Socially Just World,” brought together dozens of educators from Newburgh and beyond on Saturday, April 5.
The event, presented by the college’s Collaborative for Equity in Literacy Learning (CELL), featured keynote speaker Bryan Collier.
Collier is an illustrator and author known for his thought-provoking style combining watercolor and detailed collage. He’s a four-time Caldecott Honor recipient for his books Trombone Shorty, Dave the Potter, Martin’s Big Words, and Rosa. His books have won many other awards as well, including nine Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards, and recognition from others such as El día de los niños / El día de los libros, Notable Books for a Global Society, and the Cooperative Children’s Book Center.
During his early days as a children’s book author, Collier said he got used to rejection. He pitched his ideas to publishers in New York City week after week, only to be turned down each time.
“But I had a story to tell,” said Collier. “My story is, I went once a week, every week, for seven years. Every publisher several times…finally, somebody said yes.”
Since then, Collier has published 52 books.
“When I talk to kids, I say ‘don’t give up when you hear no.’ There’s a story that’s got to get out. You can’t hold it. Don’t keep it to yourself,” he said. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take. It might take you seven days. In my story, it took me seven years, but that’s not your story.”
Conference attendees also enjoyed a variety of workshops on current educational topics. They included “Reading is Eating: Feed Your Mind, One Word at a Time” by Sandy Bastien, founder of the Reading is Eating initiative; “Building a House Called Tomorrow: Sharing Our Medicine with the World” by Mount alumna Rebecca Quackenbush, a teacher in the Chester School District; “Peer Mentorship to Support All Readers” by Mitch Peterson, a Library Media Specialist at Ridgefield High School; and seven others.
Established in 2012, CELL provides tutoring and out-of-school literacy activities for children pre-school to grade 12 with a focus on reading, conversation, and activities. It explores multicultural books, offers family literacy programs, and more. Each semester dozens of Mount teacher candidates, graduate and undergraduate, help instill a love of reading in local youth as part of their community fieldwork requirement.