Journalist and Author Mariana Atencio

Mariana Atencio is a journalist, TED Talk speaker, influencer, and award-winning news personality covering domestic and international assignments, breaking news, and special reports. As a first-generation Latina who fled violence and oppression in her native Venezuela, Atencio crossed over from Spanish-to-English language television. This session will take place Monday, June 24 from 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. at the 2019 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition in Washington, DC.

Her life story and the message of her new book, Perfectly You: Embracing the Power of Being Real, available Summer 2019, is grounded on the discovery of how every single person can come to find their own voice and purpose in a seemingly broken world. But it goes much further than an individual discovery. She said, “It is precisely when we harness our own voice that we, in turn, have an opportunity to use it to create and foster community.” For Atencio, she’s channeled it in storytelling that is cross-cultural, cross-format, and cross-border. A feat that would not have been possible were it not for the events of her life and the stories she has covered. Quoting a line in her book, “to be a human bridge – to show that people on one side were just like the ones on the other. I kept thinking about Maya Angelou’s famous quote, ‘we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.’ Why is it so hard for some to understand that we are basically all one and the same?”

This is her raison d’etre, infused in her philanthropic work with the DAR Learning platform, which offers unlimited courses to women across Latin America, and through her involvement with the Children’s Movement of Florida’s “ReadingPals” program, which recruits volunteers to read to young children in pre-kindergarten classrooms and libraries in neighborhoods across the state.

Atencio has been named one of the top young voices in American newsrooms, and her awards include the Peabody Award for Investigative Journalism, the Gracie Award, and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Latino Issues Award. She studied at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Georgetown University, the London School of Economics, and UCLA.

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Graphic Creative Forces Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler

Graphic novelist Frank Miller is one of the most influential and awarded creators in comics and graphic novels. He is known for his intense, hard-boiled storytelling, and gritty noir aesthetic. Miller co-directed the movie “Sin City,” based on his graphic novel by the same name, and executive produced the action film “300,” based on his comic book series. His projects have been nominated for the Cannes Film Festival’s highest prize award, the Palme d’Or and have won the Harvey and Eisner Awards, including those for Best Writer/Artist, Best Graphic Novel Reprint, Best Cartoonist, Best Cover Artist, Best Limited Series, and Best Short Story. In 2015, Miller was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame for his lifetime contribution to the industry.

Screenwriter, producer, and comic book artist Tom Wheeler has worked on “Empire,” “The Cape,” “Daredevil,” “The Dark Knight Returns,” 300,” and more. He is best known as the screenwriter of “Puss in Boots” and “The Lego Ninjago Movie” and he also wrote the story for the live-action feature “Dora the Explorer”, scheduled for 2019 release. This session will take place Sunday, June 23 from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. at the 2019 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition in Washington, DC.

Together, Miller and Wheeler will create and executive-produce Cursed, a 10-episode Netflix Original show based on the book of the same name. In Cursed, the Red Paladins are a bloodsoaked wind blowing across the British Isles, fanning the flames of a holy crusade led by the sinister Father Carden, who aims to wipe Druids from the map. Desperate for revenge against the group who destroyed her family and her village, budding Druid Nimue decides to team up with a mysterious, charming young man named Arthur and step into the power she’s been running from her whole life. But what if, in her vengeance, she loses her way? What if she forgets herself?

Wheeler will write the companion book, with Miller providing the illustrations, available Fall 2019.

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