The Power of Yes | Kwame Alexander | TEDxHerndon

Along his twenty-year writerly journey, Kwame Alexander received hundreds of rejections. But, he never let other people’s NOs define him. And, it paid off in 2015 when he won the coveted Newbery Medal. Kwame shares how saying yes transformed his career and life and how it can transform yours too. Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, and the New York Times Bestselling author of 24 books, including THE CROSSOVER, which received the 2015 John Newbery Medal for the Most Distinguished Contribution to American literature for Children, the Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor, The NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, and the Pasaic Poetry Prize. Kwame writes for children of all ages. Some of his other works include picture books, ANIMAL ARC and SURF'S UP; novels BOOKED, THE PLAYBOOK, HE SAID SHE SAID and the forthcoming SOLO. Kwame believes that poetry can change the world, and he uses it to inspire and empower young people through his PAGE TO STAGE Writing and Publishing Program released by Scholastic. A regular speaker at schools and conferences in the U.S., he also travels the world planting seeds of literary love: Singapore, Brazil, Italy, France, Shanghai, and recently, Alexander led a delegation of 20 writers and activists to Ghana, where they delivered books, built a library, and provided literacy professional development to 300 teachers, as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an International literacy program he co-founded. In 2015, Kwame served as Bank Street College of Education’s Inaugural Dorothy M. Carter writer-in-residence. The Kwame Alexander Papers, a collection of his writings, correspondence, and other professional and personal documents is held at the George Washington University Gelman Library. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx