In this episode of Courage to Create, author Jess Rinker and illustrator Daria Peoples-Riley join host Bethany Hegedus to discuss their picture book biography GLORIA TAKES A STAND: HOW GLORIA STEINEM LISTENED, WROTE, AND CHANGED THE WORLD. Jess is also the author of the forthcoming SEND A GIRL: THE BRENDA BERKMAN STORY and a middle grade duology, THE DARE SISTERS. She has a BA in Social Welfare and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Daria Peoples-Reily is a former teacher with a BA in English and a Masters in Education, and now she is a full-time author and illustrator. THIS IS IT is her first picture book and a companion book, I GOT NEXT, comes out in July 2019.
During their discussion, the three women delve into the desire to be heard and how that desire fuels their own work just as it fuels Gloria Steinem’s work. Daria talks personally about the frustration of wanting to be heard but not being listened to and how she took a stand against it in college by becoming the president of the university’s NAACP chapter. Jess explains how she was already reading Gloria Steinem’s work when her agent suggested she write about Gloria Steinem, a perfect subject for Jess because of her interest in social welfare. Daria was hooked by the project after reading Jess’s manuscript and realizing she wanted to know more about Gloria Steinem, so the project felt ideal to her. Find out more about Daria at https://www.dariapeoples.com/ and more about Jess at https://www.jessicarinker.com/.
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