Uncrowned Community Builders

Connie Rose Porter grew up in Lackawanna, New York, the second youngest of nine brothers and sisters. She was raised in a housing project in the city. She attended both the Lackawanna and Buffalo Public Schools, graduating from City Honors High School. She completed an undergraduate degree at the State University of New York at Albany in 1981. Ms. Porter earned an M.F.A. from Louisiana State University.

She was a fellow at Bread Loaf and was named a regional winner in Granta's Best Young American Novelist contest. She has taught English and creative writing at Milton Academy and Emerson College in Massachusetts and at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Ms. Porter is the author of two novels All Bright Court and Imani All Mine. Her adult novel, All-Bright Court, was selected by the American Library Association as one of the Best Books of 1991. In addition, she authored the Addy books in the Pleasant Company's American Girls series. The Addy series has sold more than 3 million copies and were voted Best Children's Series of 1993 in the annual Publishers Weekly Cuffie Awards.

As a writer, she offers a strong voice for the characters in her books; the stories deal with being black, female, poor, marginalized and brilliant in demonstrating an ability to cope and find beauty within themselves and the world around them. Her book awards are numerous including the 1994 International Reading Association Children's Choice Award and the 1994 Children's Book Council Children's Choice Award.

Ms. Porter lives in Pittsburgh with her mother and 18-month old daughter.

I was going through some notes in my home office and came across a phone number for Connie Porter. I started to remember when she came to the University at Buffalo and gave a presentation in Slee Auditorium. After her presentation, she was presented with the Uncrowned Queens Culture Keeper Award. I remembered that she was a joy to talk with she was very encouraging. Just wanted to add this note to her bio.