So Room Magazine named me an emerging Black writer to look out for and other talented Black women are also featured on the list.
“We Got Next: Emerging Black Writers You Should Be Paying Attention To”
I mentioned to a friend a few days ago that it felt surreal being on that list. It was like I was being outed as a writer which she found amusing because I’ve been actively writing online for years. Hell, I’ve had something published at Teen Vogue and Slate!
But this was different. I’m now on LIST. I’ve been deemed worthy of watchful eyes and anticipation is now a feeling attributed to my future work. As someone who’s been writing under the radar with the odd praise here or there from truly talented folks in comics and books, this spotlight was both a recognition of hard work but also an exposure that has turned my imposter syndrome on max.
With all that said, this blog entry is for future me: you deserve this. Keep going.
I’ve already mentioned some of the stuff I was working on or looking forward to in a previous February blog post.
I did want to provide an update on The Storyteller Tour that I was a part of. All three authors were amazing but I wanted to talk about L.L. McKinney because I followed her long before she announced the book deal for her debut novel. She’s an outspoken voice in YA where inclusion and representation is concerned which is hard as a Black woman. It’s Black History Month so I’d be a fool to not take a moment to say how much I admire Elle for what she does and the harassment that comes with it. (I was also freaking out a bit inside the entire time she was around IRL).
Other cool things happened this month that I didn’t get a chance to mention before:
I went to the HarperCollins Canada’s Frenzy Presents Spring Preview where we got to see their YA line-up. It was great to see so many authors of colours highlighted and I’m excited for so many titles. You can check them out in this Twitter thread.
Later that afternoon, I attended the AGO’s Angie Thomas event and Donna Bailey Nurse was the interviewer. To say that I was teary eyed throughout would be an understatement. You can see some of my tweets via the Put A Blurb On It account here.
Personally, I’ve had a pretty rad February.
Ardo Omer 