Write Now with Shadra Strickland

Who are you?Hello there! I am Shadra Strickland, author/illustrator and Chair of Illustration at the Maryland Institute College of Art.What do you write?I write picture books and poetry for now.Though I’ve been illustrating books since 2009, my writing didn’t take off until years later. My mother was an English teacher, so reading and writing were a part of my childhood daily life.The stories that I have published are big, loud rallying calls to play and center around joy and community. Most reflect my own childhood experiences. Though I am beginning to expand and write about subjects that are somewhat less familiar, there will always be some hint of my experience as a child in the South. The joy, the sunshine, the big-heartedness, the ease of language that shows up in my work - that is all directly tied to my upbringing in Atlanta, GA. The next few stories that I have written are in prose rather than the two rhythmic texts that have been published - they will focus more on…