Talk about a blessing today when Kwame Alexander visited Jen Lowry Writes! Umm...yeah...you heard me! I had a chance to sit down with him to talk about his work, his why, and his vocation for honoring character, voice, and youth. He's one of my favorite authors of all time so get ready to see me as a fan. I truly respect the work he does for educators - he makes the job of us pitching books to students a whole lot easier - I tell you that! Thanks for all of your contributions to literacy and the world, Kwame! You are a blessing to many. Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, publisher, and New York Times Bestselling author of 35 books, including SWING, BECOMING MUHAMMAD ALI, co-authored with James Patterson, BOOKED, which was longlisted for the National Book Award, REBOUND, which was shortlisted for prestigious UK Carnegie Medal, The Caldecott Medal and Newbery Honor-winning picture book, THE UNDEFEATED, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, and, his NEWBERY medal-winning middle grade novel, THE CROSSOVER. A regular contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, Kwame is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, The Coretta Scott King Author Honor, Three NAACP Image Award Nominations, and the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award. In 2018, he founded the publishing imprint VERSIFY, and opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana, as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an international literacy program he co-founded. He is the writer and executive producer of THE CROSSOVER TV series on Disney plus.
