As a driving force behind Heartdrum, a HarperCollins imprint devoted to Native American children’s book authors, Cynthia Leitich Smith has seen firsthand how Indigenous representation in publishing has evolved, as she explained to Patricia Morris Buckley back in February.
“Only a decade ago, the Native children’s and YA author community, especially those of us publishing at major trade presses, was incredibly small,” says Smith, a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and the author of books including Rain Is Not My Indian Name and Sisters of the Neversea. “For the most part, we were flying solo. It was difficult for us to connect authentic Native-focused publishing manuscripts with editors.”
That’s changing thanks to the efforts of Smith and other advocates in the children’s book world, with more Indigenous-written titles coming to market, deeper support for those books, and a reinforcing of ties among Native authors.
Room to grow
Heartdrum grew out of conversations between Smith and We Need Diverse Books cofounder Ellen Oh about the need for contemporary, diverse representation of Natives in fiction. Smith found an enthusiastic partner in Rosemary Brosnan at HarperCollins Children’s Books, and the imprint released its first titles in 2021.
In addition to publishing books by Native American authors and illustrators, “Heartdrum is committed to being a good literary citizen,” Smith says. The imprint makes financial contributions to WNDB’s Native Fund and provides faculty for the organization’s annual Native Children’s and YA Writing Intensive, first held virtually in 2021 and then in person in Austin, Tex., as of 2022.
Each year, some 20 Indigenous authors receive feedback from industry professionals on their works in progress, receive broader publishing advice from editors and agents, and get to know other participants. “After the first retreat, we started to come together,” says Andrea Page (Sioux Code Talkers of World War II), a board member of the Children’s Literature Assembly who is Lakota (Sioux).
“This community has allowed me to share my viewpoint, allowed me to be heard. I didn’t realize there were so many other Native authors out there. Sharing our differences and similarities makes us stronger as a culture.”
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