HSA Author Talks: Renée Watson’s Black Girl You Are an Atlas

In partnership with Harlem School of the Arts, Word Up Community Bookshop Librería Comunitaria presents local award-winning author Renée Watson to read and discuss her new collection of poems Black Girl You Are an Atlas, a thoughtful celebration of Black girlhood.

In conversation with Watson will be students of HSA, Min Traore and Eva Carvallo.

In this semi-autobiographical collection of poems, Renée Watson writes about her experience growing up as a young Black girl at the intersections of race, class, and gender. Using a variety of poetic forms, from haiku to free verse, Watson shares recollections of her childhood in Portland, tender odes to the Black women in her life, and urgent calls for Black girls to step into their power. Black Girl You Are Atlas encourages young readers to embrace their future with a strong sense of sisterhood and celebration. With full-color art by celebrated fine artist Ekua Holmes throughout, this collection offers guidance and is a gift for anyone who reads it.

Renée Watson is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, educator, and community activist. Her books have sold over one million copies. Her young adult novel, Piecing Me Together (Bloomsbury, 2017), received a Coretta Scott King Award and a Newbery Honor. Her children’s picture books and novels for teens have received several awards and international recognition. She has given readings and lectures at many places, including the United Nations, the Library of Congress, and the U.S. embassies in Japan and New Zealand. Her poetry and fiction center the experiences of Black girls and women, and explore themes of home, identity, and the intersections of race, class, and gender.

This event is FREE to attend but we encourage people to register in advance at WithFriends.co/WordUp. 

Harlem School of the Arts is a fully accessible building and follows standards issued under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).