VCU news

By Sian Wilkerson

Meg Medina, winner of the John Newbery Medal and the current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, will speak at Virginia Commonwealth University next month about creative strategies and using storytelling to share culture broadly and expand our understanding of our world.

On Tuesday, Sept. 17, VCU Libraries will host “Meg and Me: An Evening with Meg Medina.” The daughter of Cuban immigrants, Medina will be joined by SJ Sindu, Ph.D., a Sri Lankan-American novelist and short story writer who is an assistant professor in the Department of English in VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences.

The event will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the James Branch Cabell Library Lecture Hall (Room 303), 901 Park Ave. In support of the Friends of VCU Libraries Scholarship fund, tickets are available for $35 each, while tables of eight can be purchased for $500 and receive sponsorship recognition. Register at www.support.vcu.edu/event/medina. Seating is limited.

Medina grew up in Queens, N.Y., and studied at Hunter College and Queens College, where she earned a degree in communication arts and English. She worked in publishing and taught in the New York City Public Schools before relocating to Florida, where she was a freelance journalist. In 1998, she moved to Richmond and began writing fiction.

As the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, which is appointed by the Librarian of Congress and is an initiative of the Library of Congress in partnership with Every Child a Reader, Medina has worked to raise national awareness of the importance of young people’s literature as it relates to lifelong literacy, education and the development and betterment of the lives of young people. She is the first national ambassador of Latina heritage in the program’s history.

Medina often cites her early life experiences as underpinnings of her works, which examine themes of immigration, separation from loved ones and financial struggles, while often depicting loving Latine families as a source of strength. In her books, Medina examines how cultures and identity intersect through the eyes of young people, with stories that are culturally specific and universal. Her favorite protagonists are strong girls.

In 2019, she received the Newbery Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the American Library Association for the year’s most distinguished children’s book, for her middle-grade novel “Merci Suárez Changes Gears,” one of the many awards and honors her books have received.