We were lucky to catch up with Vontavia J. Heard recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Vontavia, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
“All Hair is Good Hair” is the first book I ever wrote, although it took me quite awhile to actually publish it. I wrote it because texturism is an issue that is very meaningful to me. As black women, we are often judged by how we wear our hair, and treated accordingly to how we style it. Natural hair is “in”, until it’s 4c. If you wear wigs and weaves, you hate yourself. But if you wear your real hair, you either have “good hair” or “bad hair”. Enough is enough. I wanted to write something to instill in little black girls, or anyone really, that there is no such thing as “good hair” because ALL hair is good hair. I want us as a society to stop policing how women wear their hair. Our hair is beautiful, no matter the texture or the style, as long as we treat it with care. Our hair is a part of us, and we should love it no matter what.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I write children’s books on a variety of topics, with a focus on education and social emotional learning. My goal is to bridge the gap in representation for African American children’s books. I love storytelling, but I also love teaching and inspiring children, which is why I created my company, Reader, Writer, Storyteller. It is my goal to make EVERY child a reader, and then a writer, and finally, a storyteller. Through writing workshops and pop-up book events, I want to show kids that everyone has a writer within them.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
At the risk of sounding repetitive, I want to inspire kids to read and write. I was always a writer, but I had a lot of self doubt growing up about my writing skills. I want kids to know that with practice, anyone can write! But good writing starts with reading.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
21 books later and I’m STILL learning new marketing techniques! I did a lot of “quiet launches” when I first started out. I didn’t really want to be in the spotlight, I just wanted my books to reach people. But I have since realized that in order to truly reach people, you HAVE to put yourself out there! Also, the power of a good book launch is unmatched, and it is something that I wish I had known and embraced from the very beginning.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vontaviajheard.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vontaviajheard?igsh=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Other: https://www.readerwriterstoryteller.com/