Hi Wattpadders,
In honor of Black History Month, we'd love for you to join us for our upcoming #WattpadSpeaks event "The Transformative Beauty of Black Storytelling" happening tomorrow, Tuesday February 23rd from 3:00-4:00pm ET/ 8:00-9:00pm GMT
This virtual conversation will feature acclaimed writers, Warona Jolomba (waronajolomba /Rest Easy), Matthew Dawkins (MatthewD_Writes /Wicked, Wild, Wonderful), and Nandi Taylor (Nandi_taylor /Given). Moderated by Wattpad's Grace Kabeya, this intimate, unfiltered discussion will explore the importance of Black storytelling, the power of stories as vehicles for conversations about Black identity and representation, and the different ways each of these authors celebrate and explore Black culture through their writing. A 30-minute panel will be followed by a Q+A.
Have a question for Warona, Matthew or Nandi? Tweet us with the hashtag #WattpadSpeaks for a chance to have your question answered during the panel.
How to attend:
Sign up on Eventbrite (and don't forget to click on the bell icon to "Set Reminder" so you'll know when the event starts)
Watch live on our YouTube livestream (don't forget to click on the bell icon to "Set Reminder")
About the Panelists:
Warona Jolomba's (waronajolomba) lifelong passion for storytelling was ignited by her first writing accolade, which she won when she was just 16 years old. Since then, she has won two Watty Awards and she was a finalist in Penguin's WriteNow editorial scheme. When she's not working on her PhD in Creative Writing, she's reading or painting portraits in her home in South-East London. Her Wattpad story titled has more than 350,000 reads and it will be published by Wattpad Books in Fall 2021.
Matthew Dawkins (MatthewD_Writes) is a Jamaican Watty award-winning author and poet whose works on Wattpad have amassed over 380,000 reads. Matthew attends Western University in London, Ontario where he is pursuing a BA in The School for Advanced Studies in Arts and Humanities and English Literature. When he's not writing, Matthew can be found re-watching the Harry Potter series on Netflix for the millionth time and procrastinating on his assignments. His story (181k reads) is available on Wattpad.
Nandi Taylor (Nandi_taylor) is a Canadian writer of Caribbean descent based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She's a two-time Watty Award winner, and her story has more than 1.2 million reads on Wattpad. Nandi grew up devouring sci-fi and fantasy novels, and started writing books of her own at a young age. Her books are an expression of what she always wanted more of growing up: diverse protagonists in speculative settings. Common themes she writes about are growth, courage, and finding one's place in the world. Given is from Wattpad Books.
Moderator:
Grace Kabeya is a Toronto-based editor and book hoarder. Hailing from the Master of Publishing program at Simon Fraser University, Grace has worked in various parts of the industry, including agenting, academia and tech. Grace is currently an Editorial Specialist at Wattpad, and she's also the founder of The Black Collective, a monthly virtual hub for Black folx all over. You will not find her without a book — she is currently re-reading all of Jane Austen's oeuvre!
We hope you'll join us in community tomorrow for this inspiring event!
- Wattpad HQ
YOU ARE READING
Community Happenings
RandomWelcome to The Wattpad HQ Community Happenings story! We are so glad you're part of our global community. This is the place for readers and writers to come to discover all the things we're doing to keep our community connected and inspired. From wr...
