Zuri Community Spotlight: Young Readers Authors!

Our Zuri community is filled with so many incredible, talented writers that we realized that in addition to compiling this great work on our Reading List, we should make a Bookshop! We've got a wonderful selection of works from many of our Zuri community authors, as well as some of our favorite newsletter picks! We hope you'll enjoy it, and of course, if there's a book that you'd like us to consider including, you can always drop us a line at heyzuri@shopzuri.com.

Meet Carmen Rubin! She's an acclaimed author of picture books, interactive ebooks, apps, and animated children's programming. Her best-known work, Ashti Meets Birdman Al has lyrically warmed the hearts of many children and their families. For decades, she has used her voice to empower youth, promote literacy, and reinforce the importance of keeping music in elementary schools. 

 

 

We were so thrilled to learn that our dresses were the uniform of Aisha Saeed's recent book tours! Aisha is a New York Times bestselling author whose novel Written in the Stars was listed as a best book of 2015 by Bank Street Books and a 2016 YALSA Quick Pick For Reluctant Readers. She is the author of the middle grade novel Amal Unbound, the picture book Bilal Cooks Dal and the Wonder Woman Adventure series. Aisha is also a founding member of We Need Diverse Books, an organization advocating for greater representation of diverse characters in children's books.

 

Marie Myung-Ok Lee is an acclaimed Korean-American writer and author of the novels Finding My Voice and Somebody’s Daughter. Her stories and essays have been published in The Atlantic, The New York Times, Slate, Salon, Guernica, and The Guardian, among others. She was the first Fulbright Scholar to Korea in creative writing and has received many honors for her work. She's a founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop and was an Our Word Writer in Residence for the Columbia MFA program. She runs a reading series at Columbia and shared with us that at one reading 3 of the 4 writers were wearing Zuri! Incredible!

 

INSTA CORNER! WHO WE'RE FOLLOWING: @wellreadblackgirl

If you're looking for some fabulous reading recommendations focusing on the works of Black authors, and the Zuri newsletter alone is not getting the job done, we think you'll love Glory Edim's Instagram universe, which loops you in on all kinds of literary goodness.

 

 

 

WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO // Snap Judgement Podcast

Glynn Washington hosts this weekly radio hour, which features dramatic tales, each told by super talented emerging storytellers. We think you'll especially enjoy his latest episode, "Birdzilla" about the biggest baddest bird in the wild, who is on the brink of death, and the couple that will do anything to bring her back home. ("A Canadian love story.")

SMALL BUSINESSES WE LOVE // Tackussanu Senegal

Harlem-based shop Tackussanu Senegal creates the most gorgeous handmade baskets, as well as other items for the home, all made by artisan groups in Senegal. From storage baskets to accent trays, Jasz and Cheikh have an amazing eye for color and we think you'll absolutely love their work! 

WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO // Mariem Hassan

We're HUGE fans of Mariem Hassan, who was a singer and songwriter from Western Sahara.  A political voice for the Sahrawi people, her sound transitions seamlessly from desert blues to soulful ballads, and we know that you'll love her work as much as we do.