The Music of Words: 14th IBBY Regional Conference
Join Jacqueline Woodson, Yuyi Morales, Linda Sue Park, Traci Sorrell, Christopher Lloyd, Ruta Sepetys, and other children’s book world luminaries at Vanderbilt University on March 4-6.
RSVP by February 11 for the best hotel rates!
Highlights of this year’s conference include Jacqueline Woodson receiving her Hans Christian Andersen Author Medal, the Briley Lecture to be delivered by Yuyi Morales on Saturday evening, the “International Publishing” panel, “Music into Words” programs, and much more.
Jacqueline Woodson 
Yuyi Morales 
Traci Sorrell
“The International Publishing: The Many Paths to North America” panel will feature Angus Yuen-Killick of Red Comet Press, Christopher Lloyd of What on Earth Books/Britannica Books, Emma Raddatz of Elsewhere Editions, and John Mackey of Italbooks.
Breakout sessions will provide opportunities for deep dives into topics such as the USBBY’s Outstanding International Books List, Anne Sibley O’Brien’s work on Diverse Bookfinder, Jane Kurtz’s “Ready Set Read” initiative for Ethiopian children, and more.
“Music of Words: Taking Own Voices to the Next Level” features Traci Sorell, who wrote and produced the audiobook of her award-winning We Are Still Here, plus Audie and Earphones winner Dion Graham, and Michele Cobb, the Executive Director of the Audio Publishers Association.
Additional General Sessions include a program with USBBY author nominees Jacqueline Woodson and Linda Sue Park for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, a conversation between HCA Illustrator winner Roger Mello and Junko Yokota, educational sessions about the work of nonprofits Room to Read and I’m Your Neighbor Books, plus an All-Conference Read with the new graphic novel of Ruta Sepetys’ Between Shades of Gray with Ruta, educator Scot Smith (who chaired the recent YALSA Symposium) and Ingram’s Nicole Robinson-Hamilton.
The conference concludes with Christopher Lloyd giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of It’s Up to Us: Building a Brighter Future for Nature, People & Planet (What on Earth Books) which features the art of 33 illustrators from around the world including Raul Colon, Peter Sis, Poonam Mistry, Le Yuying, Sydney Smith, and Leah Marie Dorion.
Angus Yuen-Killick 
Linda Sue Park 
Christopher Lloyd
A silent auction will feature art, signed books, and more with the proceeds benefiting the many ongoing projects of USBBY and IBBY, including the funding of our twinning partners in Lebanon, Haiti, and Palestine. A “Closing Act” virtual conference (an included event for registered attendees of the Nashville conference) will be held in May with sessions from the IBBY chapters in Canada and Mexico.
More information and the conference schedule are available.
Questions, comments, feedback? Please contact the conference program chair, Ellen Myrick, at ellen@publisherspotlight.com.
