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PLEASE NOTE: Because of the ongoing spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) and the associated closure of the Kent State campus, the 2020 Virginia Hamilton Conference, originally scheduled for April 30, has been cancelled. The new date for the 35th Virginia Hamilton Conference is April 29, 2021.

Please find more information regarding COVID-19 and the steps Kent State University is taking to keep its students and employees safe here: https://www.kent.edu/coronavirus

The Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Youth is the longest-running event in the United States to focus exclusively on multicultural literature for children and young adults.

Honoring author Virginia Hamilton, the conference reflects a commitment to promoting cultural awareness and affirming cultural pride while addressing the array of issues which surround the concept of culture. 

Virginia Hamilton Headshot
About Virginia Hamilton

​Growing up on a small farm near Yellow Springs, Ohio, in the 1940s, Virginia Hamilton was lovingly embraced by the sights, sounds and smells of rural America, and by a big extended family of cousins, uncles, and aunts. All these things would come into play in the children’s stories Hamilton would spin as an adult. Likely the biggest influence on Virginia Hamilton — whom Entertainment Weekly has called "a majestic presence in children’s literature" — was the fact that her own parents were storytellers. And what stories they told!  read more

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  • Conference founders with speaker Ashley Bryan, 1986
    About the Conference

    The Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Youth is the longest-running event in the United States to focus exclusively on multicultural literature for children and young adults.

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  • Laura Shovan receiving the Arnold Adoff Honor Poetry Award for New Voices, October 2018
    About the Awards

    The Virginia Hamilton Conference Advisory Board offers several awards to recognize those who make contributions to the field of multicultural literature for youth.

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  • Virginia Hamilton Conference abstract design
    2020 Annual Conference

    Because of the ongoing spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) and the associated closure of the Kent State campus, the 2020 Virginia Hamilton Conference, originally scheduled for April 30, has been cancelled. The new date for the 35th Virginia Hamilton Conference is April 29, 2021.

    If you already registered: Conference registration fees paid by credit card will be refunded in full. If you indicated on your registration that you would pay by purchase order, no further action needs to be taken.

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