The Whippoorwill Book Award:
An Award for Rural Young Adult and Middle Grades Literature
The Whippoorwill Book Award:
An Award for Rural Young Adult and Middle Grades Literature
The Award
The whippoorwill is a bird known for its distinct song that fills many remote spaces. The Whippoorwill Award shares this bird’s name to honor young adult and middle grades literature that sings the authentic stories of rural people and places.
Award Mission
The Whippoorwill Award's mission is to advocate for books that portray the complexity of rural living by dispelling stereotypes and demonstrating diversity among rural people.
History
The award was founded in 2019 by Jenn Sanders, Dresser Endowed Professor of Rural Teacher Education at Oklahoma State University, and her doctoral student, Jill Bindewald.
TRAELLE
In 2023, a group of rural English teacher educators established The Rural Assembly on English Language and Literacy Education (TRAELLE - pronounced trail), a part of the National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE), as an affinity space for rural English teachers and teacher educators. TRAELLE's mission is to provide a forum for ongoing and sustained discussion among all individuals who share a professional commitment to rural students, teachers, issues, and academic materials that pertain to the teaching of English Literacy and Language Arts at all levels of instruction. TRAELLE is committed to including rural issues of geospatial equity related to all intersectional identities (i.e., BIPOC, queer, working-class rural folks) and rural texts in English studies and English language arts classrooms; fostering research and scholarship; addressing urbanormativity and metrocentrism in academic and school settings; acknowledging and supporting the unique needs of rural students and teachers; and broadening cultural diversity through more inclusive understandings of geospatial difference.
Sharing common members, the Whippoorwill Award committee and TRAELLE decided to join forces since they share a common goal of representation of and geospatial equity for rural students and the communities they are part of. As of 2024, the Whippoorwill Award will be presented at the TRAELLE business meeting every November.
The whippoorwill is a bird known for its distinct song that fills many remote spaces. The Whippoorwill Award shares this bird’s name to honor young adult and middle grades literature that sings the authentic stories of rural people and places.
Award Mission
The Whippoorwill Award's mission is to advocate for books that portray the complexity of rural living by dispelling stereotypes and demonstrating diversity among rural people.
History
The award was founded in 2019 by Jenn Sanders, Dresser Endowed Professor of Rural Teacher Education at Oklahoma State University, and her doctoral student, Jill Bindewald.
TRAELLE
In 2023, a group of rural English teacher educators established The Rural Assembly on English Language and Literacy Education (TRAELLE - pronounced trail), a part of the National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE), as an affinity space for rural English teachers and teacher educators. TRAELLE's mission is to provide a forum for ongoing and sustained discussion among all individuals who share a professional commitment to rural students, teachers, issues, and academic materials that pertain to the teaching of English Literacy and Language Arts at all levels of instruction. TRAELLE is committed to including rural issues of geospatial equity related to all intersectional identities (i.e., BIPOC, queer, working-class rural folks) and rural texts in English studies and English language arts classrooms; fostering research and scholarship; addressing urbanormativity and metrocentrism in academic and school settings; acknowledging and supporting the unique needs of rural students and teachers; and broadening cultural diversity through more inclusive understandings of geospatial difference.
Sharing common members, the Whippoorwill Award committee and TRAELLE decided to join forces since they share a common goal of representation of and geospatial equity for rural students and the communities they are part of. As of 2024, the Whippoorwill Award will be presented at the TRAELLE business meeting every November.
