This October & November, The One Book Project (One Book, One Bakersfield, One Kern)
is encouraging the entire community to share experiences related to a single book’s
themes through discussions, educational programming, and entertainment. The read is
meant to pull a community together, cross cultural divides, and enhance understanding
of our diversity, all while supporting literacy. Presented by Kern County Library’s One Book Project, CSUB Office of the Provost, Walter
W. Stiern Library, CSUB General Education Program, the Kern High School District,
Kern Council Teachers of English, CSUB Department of English, and Sigma Tau Delta,
the English honor society. Celeste Headlee is an internationally recognized journalist and radio host, professional speaker and
author of bestselling book We Need To Talk: How To Have Conversations That Matter, Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving, Speaking of Race: Why Everyone Needs to Talk About Racism and How to Do It, and You’re Cute When You’re Mad: Simple Steps for Confronting Sexism. Her TEDx Talk, 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation, has been viewed over 34 million times. Close to 50,000 talks have been given at 10,000
events since the TED program launched in 2009, and Celeste’s talk is one of the 10
most-watched talks posted on TED’s homepage. In her 20-year career in public radio, Celeste has been the Executive Producer of On Second Thought at Georgia Public Broadcasting and anchored programs including Tell Me More, Talk of the Nation, Here and Now, All Things Considered, 1A, and Weekend Edition. She also served as co-host of the national morning news show, The Takeaway, from PRI and WNYC, and anchored presidential coverage in 2012 for PBS World Channel.
Celeste is a regular guest host on NPR and American Public Media, serves as an advisory
board member for ProCon.org and The Listen First Project, and received the 2019 Media Changemaker Award. She is the host of “Women Amplified,” a podcast from the Conferences for Women, the largest network of women’s conferences
in the nation, drawing more than 50,000 people to its annual events. Celeste is also the president and CEO of Headway DEI, a non-profit that works to bring racial justice and equity to journalism and media
through targeted training and interventions, and she serves on the board of the National
Center for Race Amity. Celeste is the granddaughter of composer William Grant Still,
known as the Dean of Black American Composers and she is a trained operatic soprano.
She lives in the DC area with her rescue dog, Samus Aran.
2026 One Book Project Author
From: celesteheadlee.com 
Sharing Perspective: Art That Illustrates Conversation
To participate, please follow the guidelines found on the Call For Participation.
Finished pieces are due by 5PM on Friday, October 9th.
Questions? Contact Rebecca Penrose at rpenrose@csub.edu or Kristen Gallant at kgallant1@csub.edu.
For the Call for Participation, click HERE
2026 One Book Project Author Keynote Speech
An Evening with Celeste Headlee
Author of We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter
7:00 PM
Thursday, October 29, 2026
CSUB Icardo Center
Book Discussion - Q&A - Book Signing
Free and Open to the Public
Free Parking in Lot I after 6:00 PM
2025 KCTE One Book Project College Writing Contest
Do you like writing? Do you like winning prizes? Do you like sharing your insights? Then enter the KCTE One Book Project College Writing Contest
Prizes:
1st Place: $300
2nd Place: $200
3rd Place: $100
Prompt: In her memoir, Whiskey Tender, Deborah Jackson Taffa writes, “I’d fallen in love with Native poets, Simon Ortiz, Luci Tapahonso, nila northSun, on my trips to the downtown library, and the more I learned the more I resented the absence of Native wisdom and culture in my formal education. Anytime my teachers talked about Native history, it had to do with the conquest of our people. There was absolutely no mention of our successes. There was, in fact, no mention of us as modern people or as a contributing culture at all. The silencing of our history, of all that we’d sacrificed for the United States, burned in my chest” (246).
Drawing inspiration from Taffa’s powerful words, write an essay exploring your own experiences with cultural representation, historical narratives, or the absence thereof in your education and community.
Your essay should explore themes of cultural identity, history and movement, systems of power, social movements, and equity. Use personal experiences, observations, and if applicable, additional research to support your arguments.
- Essay length: 500 - 1000 words
- Format: Double-spaced, 12-point font
- Citation style: MLA format for any outside sources used
Remember to support your ideas with evidence from Whiskey Tender. Cite specific examples from your experiences and observations to support your points. Your essay should demonstrate critical thinking about the complexities of cultural representation and historical narratives in education and society at large.
Entries must be received electronically by 5 p.m. on Friday, October 10, 2025.
For a copy of the contest flyer, click HERE
For a copy of the contest rules, click HERE
One Book Project Events
See a complete list of One Book Project events.
Past One Book Authors and Books
One Book Project Author Event Photo Gallery
