Tony Weaver, Jr. is a storyteller who creates diverse worlds where every reader can find their place. His debut graphic novel, Weirdo, sold out of its first printing in seven weeks of publication, received multiple starred reviews, and was named one of the best books of 2024 by School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, People Magazine, The New York Public Library, and the Children’s Book Review. He was the first comic writer ever selected for the Forbes 30 Under 30, selected as a Flying Start by Publishers Weekly, and has attracted coverage from ABC, NBC, and The Huffington Post. Tony’s writing prowess has not only garnered him institutional accolades, but has built him a loyal following of over 1 million followers across TikTok and Instagram.Tony is currently focusing on promoting his Nerds For Literacy initiative and as well as his award-winning graphic novel memoir, Weirdo,
Valeriana Boadu is an educator, author, and storyteller. She was born on the Caribbean Island of St. Lucia to a family of ten children. She has been in education for over twenty-five years, teaching Geography, Language Arts, and Multilingual Learners. She is a television presenter and a published author. Her very first novel was a romance novel, which placed her in the top ten for romance writing and earned her a nomination by Foreword Reviews for excellence in writing. Since then, Val has published 11 more books—multicultural short stories and Language Arts textbooks to support writing in elementary and secondary schools.
As part of the Write Out celebration, The Write Time featured Write Out Ambassador Rob Walker. Write Out is an annual two-week event every October that invites everyone to go outside, connect with nature, and write.
Award-winning author Derrick Barnes, National Book Award Finalist and two-time Kirkus Prize winner known for Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut and Victory. Stand!, joins Dr. Chandra Maxwell, an NWP teacher-leader and equity-focused literacy researcher, to discuss the power of intentional writing and diverse literature in education.
Using the National Writing Project’s Civically Engaged Analysis Continuum (CEWAC), I have highlighted the composition choices of two photo essays from the American Creed project and created annotations about what makes these photo essays strong pieces of civically engaged writing.