Author Interviews

Interview with Sachi Ediriweera — Author of Enlightened

Author photoWe’re excited to have Sachi Ediriweera on here today to talk about his new release. Let’s start with learning a bit more about you, Sachi, and then we’ll talk more about Enlightened.

What was your life like growing up in Sri Lanka?

I grew up in the southern part of Sri Lanka, which is quite lush and tropical. And life was even more different for me as our home was in a little village an hour away from the main city. I grew up surrounded by nature, little lakes, rice paddy fields, and calming drizzles which were commonplace in April every year.

Can you tell us a little about how you first learned about the Buddha as a child?

Sri Lanka’s population is primarily Buddhist. It’s hard to miss seeing a statue of the Buddha wherever you go. You’re likely to see one in every Buddhist household, roadside shrines and even miniature ones on top of vehicle dashboards. However, my curiosity about the Buddha’s life began in Sunday school, which I didn’t enjoy attending at first as most of the lessons consisted of memorizing verses. However, the lessons about the Buddha’s life itself–his origins as a prince who had everything fascinated me. Learning about the Buddha became more than just memorizing verses and a challenge of understanding his mythos, which eventually influenced my work as well.

Did you have any childhood dreams for your adult life? If so, did they come true?

I wanted to become a movie director! I loved watching movies and learning how they were made even more. Movie DVDs where they had bonus content about how they made the movie was hard to come by in Sri Lanka and I would go out of my way to find them and spend hours re-watching those clips over and over. Apart from that I was experimenting with graphic design as well at the time. I did get to make my own short movies eventually, which screened in multiple international film festivals. However, I realized my passion was ultimately telling stories and I decided that graphic novels were a better medium to express my creativity. So yes, the dream did come true, for a while.

Did you love to read as a child? If so, can you tell us some favorite stories? 

My parents fueled my love for reading. Also going back to growing up in Sri Lanka, the village we lived in had terrible TV transmission reception so there wasn’t much for me to watch on screen. Instead I surrounded myself with books of all sorts. My favorites were Agatha Christie’s detective stories and anything that had to do with comics.

Sounds like not having much TV time turned out to be a big plus later on.

Did you have any early experiences where you learned that written language had power?

When I was 10 or so, our class had a monthly contest where the teacher gave a topic and you had to research and make a zine about it. These mostly revolved around the subjects we were learning. In one particular month, we were asked to make a story book and I remember writing an anthology of sorts with 3 stories. I won that month’s contest and was quite pleased about it.

What was your biggest fear when you were young? Did you get over it?

Being left behind, and I think it was largely due to growing up in a rural village in Sri Lanka. I had to put in extra effort if I wanted to learn anything–the TV air transmission signals were bad, and there was no internet. Eventually I moved to the city, and after that, I leaped at the opportunities–anything that would help me move my passion and career forward. It certainly helped me in the long run as I spent much of my twenties experimenting with my creativity–from film to illustrations.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Be passionate about what you do and have faith in yourself.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer? 

When I wanted to direct movies. As I didn’t know any screenwriters, I had to do it myself.

What other careers have you had besides writing?

Apart from being a former filmmaker, I work in advertising as an experiential design lead.

What is your favorite or most challenging part of being a writer? 

The complete freedom you have on the page is probably my favorite part of being a writer. Sometimes you end up discovering a completely unplanned moment in your story, a minor character suddenly becomes a bigger supporting character, you figure out a plot twist that makes everything ten times better! Writing largely happens in solitude and when you suddenly see your story in a completely new angle, it makes that entire process rewarding.

It’s exciting to see words and pictures actually turned into a book. It also can be magical seeing others reading what you’ve written.

And now that we know more about Sachi, let’s find out about more about his book, Enlightened.Book cover of Enlightened

What inspired you to write about the Buddha?

Siddhartha’s journey from a young prince to discovering the truths of this world as an enlightened monk is one that has been retold by hundreds of authors through centuries. However, most of these stories approach the Buddha as a God-like figure whereas I knew there was a grounded version of the story in which we get to explore him as a man who wanted to understand the world better. As I was in-between projects and with the world going through a pandemic, I remembered the stories which fascinated me back in Sunday school and wondered if there was a way I could retell the mythos through my own voice.

We’re grateful you made good use of the shut-downs during the pandemic.

Where did you go to do your research?

I referred multiple textbooks which were written about the Buddha and his teachings as well as reached out to a couple of researchers who were well-versed in the subject.

What was one of the most interesting facts you learned while researching?

With the Buddha’s teachings being centuries old and spanning across multiple regions around the world, certain elements of the core mythos had their own interpretations depending on where the material was originating from. It was interesting to compare different versions of the same story elements and how they had shaped those cultures.

Can you tell us a little about how you wrote and designed your graphic novel?

Enlightened was particularly challenging as I was adapting a story which had hundreds of interpretations (including children’s books and movies!) and importantly, as the Buddha’s story is so vast, I had to map out which part of the story I was going to adapt and how it would still be intriguing from a narrative perspective. Of course, the process began with writing a story outline and then doing some character sketches. Once I was happy with those, I created 15-sample art pages which I used for my pitch.

The subtle use of blue and orange in the illustrations give the graphic novel a striking look. What inspired those complimentary colors? And do they have any significance to this story?

My original pages were only in different tones of blue. However, I had used the orange on the pitch cover, as a spot color for the Buddha’s robe. Greg Stadnyk. my wonderful art director at Atheneum came up with the brilliant idea of using it throughout the book. Orange color is often associated with Buddhism as it’s the color of robes worn by Buddhist monks.

What comes first for you—the words or pictures?

Mostly pictures, but I do try to keep it between a balance of both.

How do your filmmaking and design backgrounds influence your graphic novels?

Back when I was doing short films, I spent a lot of time doing pre-production on my own. This included storyboarding scenes, to make sure you have the right shots, which you use to create a shot list for the day of the actual shoot. A crucial part about filmmaking is that you learn to be economical with your shots (because filming things cost a lot of money!). For instance, if you want to show a car exploding, you can film a scene of a car passing a pedestrian and then show his reaction with a loud sound effect, reacting to an explosion, instead of actually blowing-up a car. It’s a similar challenge with sequential storytelling, where you have to figure the best possible way to visually tell the story you want.

It’s fascinating how shooting films and creating graphic novels use many of the same skills. I’m sure it also helped in laying out each picture because those are like framed camera shots.

What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

The story of the Buddha is much larger than it could be fit within these pages. If someone gets inspired to learn more about the Buddha’s teachings, that would be a win for me. Also, I do hope readers enjoy the story on its own.

I’m sure they will.

Can you tell us about your other books?

My two earlier books were self-published with my debut being a graphic novel called Lionborn, which was the first English language graphic novel published in Sri Lanka.

What are you working on now?

Enlightened took me almost two and a half years to make. So right now, I’m spending time exploring art styles and potential story ideas before diving into what I want to do next.

Thanks ever so much for agreeing to the interview, Sachi! I know our young readers, as well as teachers and librarians will enjoy learning more about you and Enlightened! And we look forward to seeing what you come up with next.

About Enlightened

Prince Siddhartha lives in a beautiful palace in the heart of Kapilavastu. His father, the king, ensures that he has the best of everything—he just can’t go outside. He is locked up away from the city, away from anything that might cause him pain. He knows nothing of illness, aging, sorrow, or death, yet Siddhartha feels the pain regardless, and it instills a burning curiosity to understand the world outside—and the nature of human suffering.

Based on the life of the real man who was known first as a prince, then as a monk, and now as the Gautama Buddha, Enlightened is about one boy’s quest to learn the truth that underpins our endless struggle against suffering—and in understanding, break the cyclic existence that perpetuates it.

About Sachi Ediriweera

Sachi Ediriweera is an accomplished designer, filmmaker, and comic book artist. He is the writer and artist of the graphic novels Lionborn, which was the first English language graphic novel produced in Sri Lanka, and Enlightened. Apart from his design and illustration work, he has also built a career in filmmaking as a writer, producer, and director of acclaimed short films that have screened in numerous film festivals around the world. When he’s not drawing or writing his third-act plot twist, Sachi enjoys reading art books and comics, eating pizza, and overthinking cosplay ideas for comic cons. He divides his time between Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Dubai.

Author/Illustrator Spotlight: Carole and Jeffery Boston Weatherford

You’ve in for a special treat, Mixed-Up friends! Joining us on the blog today are Carole Boston Weatherford and Jeffery Weatherford, the author-illustrator/mother-son duo behind the middle-grade verse novel, Kin: Rooted in Hope. The novel, which explores the history of Carol and Jeffery’s family tree, shaped by enslavement and freedom, has been hailed by Publisher’s Weekly as “a layered text that highlights the perseverance of the Weatherfords’ ancestors and the horrors that they endured,” and by Kirkus as “a striking work that reshapes the narrative around enslavement.” It’s out tomorrow, September 19, from Simon & Schuster.

A Summary of Kin: Rooted in Hope

Carole and Jeffery Boston Weatherford’s ancestors are among the founders of Maryland. Their family history there extends more than three hundred years, but as with the genealogical searches of many African Americans with roots in slavery, their family tree can only be traced back five generations before going dark. And so from scraps of history, Carole and Jeffery have conjured the voices of their kin, creating an often painful but ultimately empowering story of who their people were in a breathtaking book that is at once deeply personal yet all too universal.

Carole’s poems capture voices ranging from her ancestors to Frederick Douglass to Harriet Tubman to the plantation house and land itself that connects them all, and Jeffery’s evocative illustrations help carry the story from the first mention of a forebear listed as property in a 1781 ledger to he and his mother’s homegoing trip to Africa in 2016. Shaped by loss, erasure, and ultimate reclamation, this is the story of not only Carole and Jeffery’s family, but of countless other Black families in America.

Carole and Jeffery Boston Weatherford: The Interview

Carole and Jeffery… Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files. It’s honor to have you here! Carole: Kin is told from a fascinating array of perspectives. In addition to accounts from your ancestors, the Copper family, key figures include: Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman; your ancestors’ enslavers, the Lloyd family; an archeologist; Francis Scott Key, who wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Non-human narrators are represented, too: Wye House; the Chesapeake Bay; a cemetery. How did you inhabit each character as deeply, and as authentically, as you did?

CBW: I realized after writing my first verse novel, Becoming Billie Holiday, which was in first person, that I had this ability to channel the voices of my subjects. I ask my characters to speak to and through me. It helped that I grew up visiting my great-grandparents’ house in the area. So, I was already rooted in the land long before writing Kin.

The Magic of Scratchboard Art

Jeffery: While we’re on the subject of illustrations, Kin features more than 40 black-and-white pieces of scratchboard art. Can you tell Mixed-Up Files readers more about this medium? What made you choose scratchboard for this particular book?

JBW: Certainly! Scratchboard art is a distinctive and evocative medium, offering a visual dance between darkness and light. At its core, scratchboard is a form of direct engraving where the artist scratches off dark ink to reveal a white or light-colored layer beneath. It’s a medium that requires precision, foresight, and an intimate understanding of light and shadow.

For Kin, I felt that scratchboard was the perfect choice because it mirrored the book’s underlying themes—the contrasting narratives of hardship and hope, of oppression and freedom, of the dark past and the light of progress. Much like our own stories where we strive to find clarity amidst confusion, scratchboard art involves meticulously carving out light from the darkness. It’s about finding and showcasing beauty, no matter how deeply it’s buried. The medium’s inherent contrasts and textures brought depth to the narrative, providing readers with not just a story to read, but an experience to feel.

Additionally, the tactile nature of scratchboard echoes the raw, visceral emotions and historical touchpoints present in Kin. Just as the book delves into the intricate tapestry of ancestry and legacy, the scratchboard technique, with its layers and intricacies, became a metaphor for the multifaceted journey of discovery and understanding.

(For more on the fascinating medium of scratchboard art, click here.)

I Call Their Names

Carole: Much of the material for Kin came from the Lloyd family’s ledgers, including the names of your ancestors, which you call out frequently—almost like an incantation: Yellow Molly; Chicken Sue; Prissy; Daphne; Old Suckey; Charity; Nurse Henny; Barnett; Peg Shaw… How do these names resonate with you? 

CBW: Wye House, the Lloyd’s flagship plantation, was once home to more than three hundred enslaved people. Their marginalized voices begged to be amplified and their stories to be told. I invoked the names of the enslaved residents of Wye House. Perhaps that was my way of asking their permission to channel their voices and conjure their stories.

Remembering… And Forgetting

Carole: Early on in the book, you reveal that your great grandfather never talked about his father-in-law, Isaac Copper, who fought in the Civil War after his enslavement at Wye House. You then pose the question: “Was forgetting less painful than remembering?” Could you elaborate on this?

CBW: I don’t know whether my great-great-grandfathers told my great grandparents about enslavement. History can be heart-rending—even traumatizing—especially when it comes to enslavement. As one formerly enslaved woman said in the 1930s, “My folks don’t want me to talk about slavery.” Sadly, many firsthand recollections of enslavement vanished before ever being passed down. On one hand is a reluctance to recall painful memories; on the other, the grief over what is forgotten or unknown. I wish I had inherited more stories.

Poetry in Motion

Jeffery: In addition to being a children’s book illustrator, you’re a performance poet. How has your experience as a poet guided your work as an illustrator—and vice-versa?

JBW: My journey as a performance poet has deeply enriched my perspective as an illustrator. Engaging in spoken word and poetry, I’ve been exposed to the raw, unfiltered emotions of an audience, and I’ve felt the weight of words in a room—the palpable tension, the riveting silences, and the roaring applause. This intimate dance with emotions and public vulnerability has emboldened me in my artistry.

It’s often said that public speaking is a fear greater than death, and if that’s true, then through my countless performances, I’ve confronted and embraced that fear many times over. This recurrent act of braving the stage has translated into an audacious spirit in my illustrations.

Art, much like poetry, is an act of audacious vulnerability. It necessitates the courage to mar a pristine canvas, to take risks, and to lay one’s soul bare for the world to witness. My poetry has taught me to speak, while my illustrations have taught me to visualize; and together, they’ve allowed me to weave narratives that are both visually and emotionally resonant. The synergy between both realms is profound—while my poetry gives voice to my emotions, my illustrations provide them a visual stage.

Fertile Ground for Creativity

Carole: You wrote many of the poems for Kin on your family’s farmstead in Copperville, Maryland. What was this experience like for you? Did this rural location help you feel connected to your ancestors in any way?

CBW: I sense ancestral spirits there. My great-great grandfather Phillip Moaney co-founded Copperville during the Reconstruction. The village is less than two miles from Wye House where my forebears were enslaved. My family’s small farm in Copperville is fertile ground not only for agriculture but also for creativity.

African Homecoming

Carole and Jeffery: In 2016, you travelled to Africa to learn more about your ancestors—some of whom descended from royalty. How did this trip deepen your understanding of your family’s history? How did it affect you personally?

CBW: The purpose of our African homecoming was to share our debut collaboration, You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen. At the time, we had not begun work on Kin. Off the coast of Dakar, Senegal on Goree Island, we toured Maison des Esclaves (The House of Slaves). Shortly after our return, I learned from an art exhibition that my great-great grandfather descended from royalty and was known as the Royal Black. That knowledge filled me with pride and inspired me to research our roots.

JBW: The trip was NWA NWA, which means incredible, amazing, magnificent!  I felt like I was returning home. Getting to stand on the Goree Island I could feel the power of my ancestors and the light of their smiles. It returned something to me that I cannot explain.

It’s All in the Research

Carole: As a follow-up, what sort of research did you do for Kin? Without birth records, marriage licenses, and death certificates available to trace your family’s genealogy, it must have required a tremendous amount of time, patience, and skillful detective work.

CBW: I was researching family history long before I envisioned Kin. Once, I began work on the book, I studied plantation ledgers, letters, military records  archeological reports, the landscape and material culture to reconstruct my ancestors’ milieu. I also read Frederick Douglass’s firsthand account of enslavement at Wye House. Last but not least, I visited the burial ground for the plantation’s enslaved residents. Amidst unmarked graves in a grove of trees, I broke down and cried.

Jeffery: How did the research affect, and enrich, your artwork?

JBW: The research process has been instrumental in shaping the authenticity and depth of my artwork. By delving deep into historical accounts, personal narratives, and cultural contexts, I’ve been able to tap into a reservoir of emotions, experiences, and textures that might have otherwise remained elusive.

Family Affair

Carole and Jeffery: This isn’t your first children’s book collaboration, but I suspect it’s the most meaningful. How has Kin brought you closer, both as collaborators and mother and son? Also, how has this project differed from other books you’ve created together?

CBW: Kin was truly a family affair, conceived with collaboration in mind. Kin is the book of our hearts, an offering to our ancestors and to our offspring, born and unborn.

JBW: We have been working together for a long time, this book has allowed us to dive into family history on an entirely different level and share that experience with the rest of the family.

On the flip side, how do you handle disagreements when it comes to creative decisions? Does the mother-son dynamic ever get in the way? When it does, what are your strategies to resolve the problem?

CBW: I can’t recall a disagreement, maybe because I’m the boss. Joking! Seriously, I consider myself an illustrator’s author. My words are evocative enough for illustrators to express their vision for the art. I was blown away when I saw Jeffery’s art for Kin.

JBW: We don’t particularly argue about the process, to be honest–just about chores that need to be done for tidying up spaces. Kidding. I don’t have many chores from my mom anymore. All jokes aside, it’s been a wonderful experience working with her, and going all over the world to enrich the youth.

It’s Personal

Carole: You have written more than 70 award-winning books, but my research reveals that Kin is your most personal one yet. Was there a watershed moment, or inner force, that impelled you to share your family’s history?

CBW: In late 2016, I went to an exhibition of Depression-era paintings by Ruth Starr Rose, a white artist who came of age at Hope House, the former plantation where my great-great grandfather was the gardener. I was awestruck that Rose’s paintings depicted my relatives, whom the curator referred to as Maryland’s founding families. I suspect that one painting shows my father as a boy. The exhibition also featured a photograph of my great-great grandfather, whose face I had never before seen. The exhibition underscored for me the significance of my family’s history.

Carole and Jeffery: Thank you for chatting about KIN today. I know your book will resonate with readers as much as it did with me.

Bios

Carole Boston Weatherford

Carole has written many award-winning books for children, including You Can Fly, illustrated by her son Jeffery; Box, which won a Newbery Honor; Unspeakable, which won the Coretta Scott King award, a Caldecott honor, and was a finalist for the National Book Award finalist; Respect: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award; and Caldecott Honor winners Freedom in Congo SquareVoice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement; and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. Carole lives in North Carolina. Visit her at CBWeatherford.com.

Jeffery Boston Weatherford

Jeffery is an award-winning children’s book illustrator and a performance poet. He has lectured, performed, and led art and writing workshops in the US, the Middle East, and West Africa. Jeffery was a Romare Bearden Scholar at Howard University, where he earned an MFA in painting and studied under members of the Black Arts Movement collective AfriCobra. A North Carolina native and resident, Jeffery has exhibited his art in North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. Visit him at CBWeatherford.com.

WNDMG Wednesday – Interview with Barbara Binns and Why We Need Diverse Heroes

We Need Diverse MG Logo hands holding reading globe with stars and spirals floating around

Welcome Barbara Binns!

When I read her amazing book, Unlawful Orders, I knew I Barbara Binns - Photo by Robert LTDhad to convince Barbara to let me interview her for We Need Diverse Middle Grade Wednesday.

 

Freeman Field Mutiny

Freeman Field Side One

TheTuskegee Airmen heroically fought for the right to be officers of the US military so that they could fly overseas to help defeat fascism in World War II. However, after winning that battle, they faced their next great challenge at Freeman Field. There racist white officers barred them from entering the Officer’s Club. These heroic men fought for their rights and their fight helped lead to the desegregation of the US armed forces.

One Black officer who refused to give in to the bigotry at Freeman Field was James Buchanan “JB” Williams. JB grew up the son of sharecroppers. His loving family and insuppressible intellect drove him to push boundaries placed on Black Americans in the early twentieth century. JB’s devotion to the betterment of others drove him to become a doctor, to serving as a medic in the US military and eventually joining the elite Tuskegee Airmen, where he fought to change minds.

 

JB Williams

When I first read the description of Unlawful Orders, I was immediately drawn to the subject and the life of JB Williams. Can you give us an overview of JB Williams and why you were drawn to write his story?

Profile image of Dr. James Williams

Unlawful Orders almost wrote itself. Much of that is because JB Williams and I share so much. Like his mother, I was the first in my family to attend college. I chose to pursue a field few people like me entered in the 70s, and I studied to become a black female biochemist. JB chose medicine. In college, I entered advanced mathematics and science classes as the only black student, or the only female student (and sometimes both). Fortunately, I never met any overt issues from any instructor or fellow student; I was also never invited to join in any study group. I knew that eyes were on me, and that if I made a mistake in class or came unprepared, it would be noted and reflect on more than just me. I was strong-willed and single-minded, as an undergraduate, and then in pursuit of advanced degrees. Like JB, I never gave anyone the opportunity to say I did not belong.

Black Surgeon Successfully Performs First Ever Transplant Surgery to Cure Deafness

My college experiences made it easy for me to recognize the emotional turmoil JB went through in his quest. He was the only black medical student at Creighton University. His activism helped persuade the school to recruit a black student to the dental school. After earning his MD degree, JB went on to earn a Master of Science degree in surgery. He knew that to be a success, a black doctor needed to be better prepared than his white counterparts.

Obstacles for African Americans In Health Care

Your book on JB’s life was hard to put down. I got goosebumps thinking of the obstacles JB overcame to reach his goals. I’d like to believe the path for all people to a profession as noble as medicine is equal, but I worry that’s not the case. Do obstacles exist today that make it harder for African Americans to enter health care professions?

Covid-19 lays bare how racism fuels health disparities among Black people

About 13% of the people in the United States are African American. However, African Americans make up less than 6% of medical professionals. A lot of black kids never meet a black medical professional. The absence of a role model who looks like them is the start of a list of issues that discourage black youth from seeing medicine in their future. As early as grade school, well-intended guidance counselors and other adults discourage some from entering medicine. During my high school days, the not-so-subtle message was that biochemistry was an impossible dream, and I would be happier and more successful seeking an “appropriate” alternative like social work.

The Importance of Role Models

Will you please share your thoughts on how important it is for African American children to have a role models who looks like them?

Three African American medical professionals stand looking at a chart in a hospital setting.

JB was fortunate to have a role model in Dr. Aaron Nixon, a black physician who was  a family friend and worked on civil rights issues.  As a black physician, Dr. Nixon was never allowed privileges to work in any hospital in his native Texas. As an excellent doctor, many white patients went to Dr. Nixon’s office to seek treatment.

BlackAmericanHealthcare_CvrImg

Many young people of any race never even meet a black medical professional. Exposing their children to real role models who look like them is one reason many black people prefer doctors of their own race. There are others. Like a child in a cancer ward who has a doctor who can tell them, “I survived cancer,” dealing with doctors and nurses of their own race can help patients relax.  Sometimes black patients want someone who knows and shares their lived experiences. They want a doctor who won’t think they are overreacting when they describe the physical and emotional stress of microaggressions.

Aa Kid Doctors2

 

JB and his brothers ran a clinic in Chicago.  This clinic gave people access to doctors who understood their medical, emotional, and financial issues. When black women discovered they could be seen by someone who actually listened to them, they flocked to his clinic.

Upcoming Projects

Can you tell us about your upcoming projects??

New projects – Free Creative Commons Images from Picserver

I hope to publish American Sparrow in the near future. This book tells the true story of the very first African American fighter pilot, Eugene Bullard. Decades before the Tuskegee Airmen lifted into the sky, Bullard joined other Americans flying for France during the first World War. During the second World War he spied on the Germans . He received a chest full of medals from France only to return to America where he had to scrape to survive.

I also hope to publish my middle grade fiction story, L’Tasha Learns to Be Fabulous. L’Tasha and her stepmother move to a small town where she is one of  the only children of color in the school. Her efforts to join a group called the Fabulous Five give her lessons about life, friendship, and forever changes her relationship to her stepmother.

I have my fingers and toes crossed that one or both will soon find a publishing home. In the meantime, you can take a look at Courage. Courage is a middle grade retelling of the Prodigal son story. It’s told from the point of view of the brother who stayed home and now needs to find the courage to forgive his brother.  You can find out more about Courage here.

Interested in learning more about the history of African Americans in the US, check out this great article