Visionary Storyteller, Actress, and Author Echo Brown is an Auditorium Speaker at the 2020 ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Philadelphia

Echo Brown is a visionary storyteller from Cleveland, Ohio, who strives to inspire and provoke. Her first solo show, nominated as one of the top ten best shows of 2015 by the San Francisco Chronicle, "Black Virgins Are Not for Hipsters" was nominated as one of the top ten best shows of 2015 by the San Francisco Chronicle and ran for two years to sold-out crowds both nationally and internationally.  Written, produced, and performed by Brown, the success of the show led to invitations to speak at Facebook, Google, Dropbox, and TedX Talks.  This session will take place on Saturday, January 25, 9:30am - 10:30am at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. PA.

A graduate of Dartmouth College, Brown took an unusual path into the arts. She began her career as an investigator, examining allegations of misconduct against members of the New York City Police Department. She went on to study investigative journalism at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism before moving to California to work for Challenge Day, an award-winning nonprofit that provides transformational workshops in high schools. While there as a motivational speaker, she created and performed dynamic and moving stories for high school audiences across the country. The response led Brown to become a full-time storyteller.

Brown’s search for creative expression continues with her first book, Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard, available January 2020. The book is an attempt to come to terms with Brown’s difficult and traumatic childhood and to make meaning out of incomprehensible experiences. Heavily autobiographical yet infused with magical realism, Black Girl Unlimited fearlessly explores the intersections of poverty, sexual violence, depression, racism, and sexism—all through the arc of a transcendent, coming-of-age story.

Her appearance at the conference is sponsored by Macmillan Children's Publishing Group.

Ways to stay in touch and get updates include: 2020 ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits website.  Twitter (alamw and #alamw20) Facebook Events, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram. 
 

Early registration rates are available through Thursday, November 14, 2019, 12:00 Noon (Central).