Close to 7,000 English language arts and literacy educators are expected at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver next month for the National Council of Teachers of English’s annual convention. The 114th edition of the conference, which runs Thursday, November 20, to Sunday, November 23, invites attendees to “dream boldly” in an atmosphere of collegial support and inspiration—something sure to be welcomed as they face enormous challenges such as censorship, uncertain or eliminated funding, and alarmingly low literacy rates.
“English and English-language teachers so passionately want students to become lifelong readers and writers and critical thinkers,” says NCTE executive director Emily Kirkpatrick. “They’re really focused on trying to get students hooked on reading and reading texts that are of high interest to them.” She notes that there have been sweeping changes in the teaching profession since the pandemic, and that many teachers have retired early. As a result, “There’s an unprecedented number of new teachers in this profession, and they’re eagerly trying to acclimate themselves and learn what works well.” NCTE in Denver will provide these novices with opportunities “to get better at their craft, to meet teachers who have been a part of this incredible work for a longer time, and come together and think and develop community,” Kirkpatrick adds. To help in this endeavor, NCTE has added a New and Early Career Teacher Strand to the convention app and program, making it easier for teachers to find sessions specially designed for them.
Kirkpatrick cites Thursday evening’s section get-togethers as favorite networking events. Attendees gather in groups, sorted by their various teaching levels—elementary, middle, secondary (grades 9–12), and college—for appetizers, news, updates from NCTE section leaders, and a presentation by a keynote speaker. Kirkpatrick is particularly excited about the Secondary Section Get-Together, which will feature author Jason Reynolds and Dan Zitt, senior VP of content production at Penguin Random House Audio, discussing Reynolds’s YA audiobook original Soundtrack, which follows music-loving teens in early 2000s New York City.
Comics and graphic novels will be in the spotlight at this year’s convention. “There’s a lot of positive energy right now from teachers regarding using comics and graphic novels in the classroom,” Kirkpatrick says. “We’ve also heard from teachers that they’re excited because they understand when a graphic novel goes into the home, oftentimes, parents and guardians get interested in the book, and then it becomes a conversation that extends beyond the school day.”
Inspired by member feedback and funded by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, NCTE recently formed a Teaching Comics Initiative to develop classroom materials based on the Carnegie Corporation’s Great Immigrants, Great Americans comics series. “We will be rolling out new resources from that program,” Kirkpatrick says. Members of the initiative will spotlight this work and introduce nuts-and-bolts strategies during the session “Great Immigrants, Great Americans: Teaching with Comics to Celebrate Immigrant Stories” on Friday. Attendees can find several additional comics-centered sessions in the convention program.
Author keynotes
The NCTE lineup of speakers kicks off on Thursday afternoon in the Bellco Theater, with an opening general session keynote delivered by Percival Everett, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, among other honors, for his 2024 novel James, a reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn narrated by Jim, who has escaped enslavement. Everett will offer a look inside his wide-ranging body of work and his creative process.
Saturday’s general session speaker is librarian and literacy and mental health advocate Mychal Threets, who became a social media sensation by sharing his encouraging stories of the library joy he witnessed and created on the job. His debut picture book, I’m So Happy You’re Here: A Celebration of Library Joy (Random House), illustrated by Lorraine Nam, hits shelves next February. Threets has served as resident librarian for PBS since 2024 and was recently announced as the new host of a revamped version of Reading Rainbow, the network’s literacy and reading program.
And author, botanist, and professor Robin Wall Kimmerer, an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, whose bestselling book Braiding Sweetgrass explores the gifts and lessons we receive from other living beings in the natural world, will wrap up the NCTE proceedings with her closing general session on Sunday afternoon.
A series of 25 workshops, which require an additional registration and fee, begin on Thursday morning, each offering participants a four-hour deep dive into a plethora of topics. Then, beginning on Friday morning, conference attendees will have access to upwards of 140 exhibitors, 1,000 educational sessions, and nearly 300 authors in the exhibit hall.
Kirkpatrick believes that convening in person is still vital “for community, and for [emphasizing] why teaching and learning about language and story and writing exists,” she says. “It’s so important that we all be exposed to experiences and ideas outside of our own slice of the world, and that’s what happens every moment of the day at NCTE.”
As educators try to remain resolute and even hopeful in uncertain and unsettling times, Kirkpatrick emphasizes that NCTE stands with them. “We are very focused on our mission and how we can put as many opportunities and as many supports in the hands of educators,” she says. “And as long as we are all rallied around that mission and continuing to press forward, bright futures are ahead.”
