Sensitivity Readers and Knitting

When you write outside of your lived experience, a sensitivity reader is someone who helps make sure that your writing delivers accurate and authentic representation rather than perpetuating a stale, harmful, or even wrong stereotype. 

The best presentation I've attended on this subject was given by the Newbery Award-Winning author Linda Sue Park. Park says that it's hard to accurately write a character from a different culture if you've never sat at their kitchen table. She used knitting to demonstrate her point.

Park has been a life-long knitter. She showed the audience an image of the proper way to hold knitting needles—ends down, tips up. Then she showed us images featuring illustrations of characters knitting but holding the needles the wrong way (ends up, tips down). Clearly, the illustrator of the inaccurate images isn't a knitter. In fact, they've probably never held knitting needles. It's not their lived experience.

💡This was a lightbulb moment for me. When Park gave this simplified example, I thought

of all the times I've seen purported yoga instructors (aka actors) on television holding a pose the wrong way. Knitting needles and yoga poses are minor mistakes, but Park's point demonstrates how easy it can be to get the details wrong. Sometimes, inaccurate details harm the suspension of disbelief, and sometimes they are culturally wrong and/or offensive errors.

AVOID ERASURE: Erasure is when an author shies away from featuring an inclusive cast of characters, because they are only comfortable writing in their lane. Writing takes work. A lot of work. I am not suggesting appropriation or writing a protagonist from outside your experience, but I am urging you not to erase a group of people either. 

In my upcoming 2024 novel, The Truth About 5th Grade (HarperCollins, summer 2024) co-written with Mark Parisi,  I've written a scene where a supporting character celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month. I am not Latinx, so I hired sensitivity readers to take a look at my manuscript. I also leaned into my critique partners who are Latinx. The sensitivity readers and critique partners were able to share valuable insights on ideas and issues that I would have never thought of on my own (e.g., adding a cumbia playlist).  

Here is a fantastic four-minute video (4:21) that explains why a sensitivity reader can be a great idea if you are writing outside of your lived experience.  

If you have time for an 18-minute video, this TED Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie called “The Danger of a Single Story” is excellent! 

Two 2013 Scholarships Available: One for Children's Book Writer and One for Children's Book Illustrator

Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Can Receive a Free Opportunity:

Attention children’s book writers and illustrators—would you like a free chance to attend a conference and meet agents, editors and Newbery Award winning authors? Only two weeks remain to apply for the VICKIE FERGUSON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP. Scholarship recipients will receive fully paid tuition to the 2013 RMC SCBWI Letters and Lines Fall Conference, plus a manuscript or portfolio review (as indicated on the free application). The scholarship will be awarded to one writer as well as one illustrator—please apply if you’re actively committed to your craft.  Application deadline is June 22, 2013. 

To apply, please click link for application: [2013VF_ScholarshipApplication.pdf]

More about the conference: The Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is excited to host the annual Letters and Lines Conference at a new location; this year we will be at the Denver Marriott West in Golden, Colorado on September 28 and September 29. This weekend conference will include two unforgettable days packed with valuable learning and networking opportunities.  Attendees will find many opportunities to connect on a personal level with our speakers during break-out sessions, intensives, individual critiques, pitch sessions, query workshops, first page readings, and more. If some of these terms are foreign to you, it’s all the more reason to attend. You’ll not only learn how to elevate your work, but you’ll also learn the business side of your craft.  This year’s lists of distinguished speakers include:

Linda Sue Park

• Newbery Award winner Linda Sue Park
• Arianne Lewin, executive editor, G. P. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin Young Readers Group)
• Kelly Barrales-Saylor, editorial director, Albert Whitman & Company
• Wendy Loggia, executive editor, Delacorte/Random House
• Brianne Johnson, agent, Writers House
• Terrie Wolf, agent, AKA Literary Management
• Bitsy Kemper, author and PR Queen!
• Illustrator Michael Garland

Take a look at last year’s scholarship recipient: click here

You must be a member of the SCBWI in order to apply for the scholarship. Members get a gazillion benefits (a.k.a. a bunch). JOIN NOW.

Thank you Vickie Ferguson. The Vickie Ferguson Memorial Scholarship honors the memory of Vickie Ferguson, long-time member of RMC-SCBWI, who passed away in May 2005. Vickie was dedicated to her writing. This scholarship seeks to support those writers and illustrators who are committed to their craft and are actively writing and/or illustrating.