Zetta Elliott

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About Zetta Elliott
Zetta Elliott is a Black feminist writer of poetry, plays, essays, novels, and stories for children. She was born and raised in Canada, but has lived in the US for over 25 years. She earned her PhD in American Studies from NYU in 2003; she has taught at Ohio University, Louisiana State University, Mount Holyoke College, Hunter College, Bard High School Early College, and Borough of Manhattan Community College. Her poetry has been published in New Daughters of Africa, We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices, the Cave Canem anthology The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South, Check the Rhyme: an Anthology of Female Poets and Emcees, and Coloring Book: an Eclectic Anthology of Fiction and Poetry by Multicultural Writers. Her novella, Plastique, was excerpted in T Dot Griots: an Anthology of Toronto's Black Storytellers, and her plays have been staged in New York, Cleveland, and Chicago. Her essays have appeared in School Library Journal, The Huffington Post, and Publishers Weekly. Her picture book, Bird, won the Honor Award in Lee & Low Books' New Voices Contest and the Paterson Prize for Books for Young Readers. Her young adult novel, A Wish After Midnight, has been called "a revelation...vivid, violent and impressive history." Ship of Souls was published in February 2012; it was named a Booklist Top Ten Sci-fi/Fantasy Title for Youth and was a finalist for the Phillis Wheatley Book Award. Her YA novel, The Door at the Crossroads, was a finalist in the Speculative Fiction category of the 2017 Cybils Awards, and her picture book, Melena's Jubilee, won a 2017 Skipping Stones Honor Award. She received the Children's Literature Association's Article Award for her 2014 essay, "The Trouble with Magic: Conjuring the Past in New York City Parks." She is an advocate for greater diversity and equity in publishing, and has self-published numerous illustrated books for younger readers under her own imprint, Rosetta Press; 3 were named Best of the Year by the Bank Street Center for Children's Literature, and Benny Doesn't Like to Be Hugged was a first-grade fiction selection for the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Dragons in a Bag, a middle grade fantasy novel, was published by Random House in 2018; the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) named it a Notable Children's Book. Its sequel, The Dragon Thief, was named a Best Middle Grade Book of 2019 by CBC Books. Say Her Name, a young adult poetry collection, was published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in January 2020; A Place Inside of Me was published in July 2020 by FSG and was named a Notable Poetry Book by NCTE. She currently lives in Evanston, IL.
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Blog postIt’s still snowing here in Evanston. I went out earlier today to deliver a birthday gift to Cozbi. She’s still reeling from winning *four* awards yesterday for her two beautiful books EXQUISITE and ME & MAMA! Award days can be difficult and I usually skip the ceremony and avoid social media for a while. Often the same few people win the same few awards, year after year, but when someone so deserving finally has their work recognized—you can’t help but celebrate with and for them. Cozbi is17 hours ago Read more
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Blog postOn Saturday morning I watched Herself and when it ended, I did an online search for “how to move to Scotland.” The film is set in Ireland, but it motivated me to work on my five-year plan. Over the holidays I scribbled a few statements down, all starting with “What if…?” But yesterday I made actual statements: “By 2026, I will have a home abroad.” I don’t have many goals, just half a dozen right now, but having clear goals makes it easier to complete specific actions that will set me on2 weeks ago Read more
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Blog post2020 is on its way out and I’m trying to clear my plate. I had hoped to publish this picture book back in February but the illustrator wasn’t done and then the pandemic changed everything…then I moved to IL and now I’m waiting on the final proof so I can finally hit “publish.” It’s an imperfect book—I gave up on my original vision a long time ago and now it just needs to land in the hands of kids in Central PA. I found myself thinking about my own childhood and introduction to Black history;4 weeks ago Read more
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Blog postWhen The Star agreed to publish my essay on Black fantasy fiction in 2019, I was thrilled. After quitting my job and struggling for several years to earn a living as a writer, I was finally making it work. With a few small awards under my belt, a couple of modest book deals, and a whole lot of paid school visits, I had managed to match my comfortable professor’s salary. And after a decade of invisibility, I was also gaining recognition as a children’s author in Canada; my middl1 month ago Read more
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Blog postFor a decade, Edi and I have compiled an annual list of MG and YA books by Black authors. I wasn’t looking forward to posting the list this year and have finally decided to step down. Our list always drew from Edi’s year-long list of BIPOC new releases so it makes sense for her to carry on; you can find her 2020 list and analysis over at the Crazy Quilt Edi blog. Has tracking US publishers’ support of Black authors made a difference? I don’t know. Our lists definitely get a lot of hits throug1 month ago Read more
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Blog postThey’re predicting it will snow today. I don’t plan to leave the house but still spent a little time this morning looking at winter boots online. Then I went to my closet and realized I was about to buy a pair of boots that were identical to the pair I already own. I eat when I’m not hungry. I binge watch shows on mute. My right forearm has started to ache from spending too much time in front of the computer and the novel STILL ISN’T DONE. I just got yet another extension and think this will2 months ago Read more
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Blog postI don’t want to talk about the election and definitely didn’t plan to write a poem about it. But then I went for a walk with Cozbi on Friday and she named the condition of the golden maple trees: blight. Turns out these “tar spots” are the result of a fungus that doesn’t kill the tree. The next day I heard hollering in the street and that’s how I found out that Biden had won. I walked to the farmer’s market and ecstatic folks were out in their cars, honking as they drove through Evansto3 months ago Read more
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Blog postIt’s the end of October and as of this morning, I only have 23K words written. It’s not bad, but this week I didn’t hit my thousand word per day goal, and because it was my birthday on Monday, I cut myself some slack. Our architecture boat tour on Sunday was chilly but wonderful, and the next day I spent hours opening cards and gifts and thanking my incredibly generous friends. Tea, chocolate, flowers, dragons—and a stunning piece of original artwork. It snowed all morning, I had cake for bre3 months ago Read more
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Blog postIt has been almost a year since my Aunt D’thea was killed in a car accident and my relatives in Canada have been going through her possessions as they prepare her house for sale. A lot of things were thrown out or given away; my cousin saved a few mementos and offered some items to me—prefacing her offer with an acknowledgement that I am actively “anti-stuff.” It has taken years for us to reach that understanding; I’ve moved three times in as many years and each time I unloaded gifts that wer3 months ago Read more
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Books By Zetta Elliott
The Dragon Thief (Dragons in a Bag)
Jan 12, 2021
$6.99
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$5.47
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We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices
Dec 31, 2019
$9.89
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$4.85
(48 Used & New offers)
Milo's Museum
Nov 11, 2016
$10.00
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$3.08
(3 Used & New offers)
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Kindle
Mother of the Sea
Apr 9, 2017
$7.00
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$7.00
(10 Used & New offers)
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Kindle
The Door at the Crossroads
Apr 8, 2016
$15.00
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$13.48
(4 Used & New offers)
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Kindle
The Phoenix on Barkley Street (City Kids)
Aug 26, 2014
$7.00
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$3.95
(11 Used & New offers)
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Kindle
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