F151.
The Craft of Writing Intersectional Identities in Young Adult Literature
Friday, February 9, 2024
10:35 am to 11:50 am
KidLit has embraced expanding representation so that characters in stories now better reflect the demographics of our cities and schools. But how do you successfully craft characters whose identities are intersectional and oftentimes multiply while still telling a story with a great plot and excellent pacing? This panel will consider the craft of writing characters in YA, in both short stories and novels, whose identities are shaped by more than one marginalization.
Participants
Jen Ferguson (she/her) is Métis and white, an activist, a feminist, an auntie, and an accomplice with a PhD. She believes writing, teaching, and beading are political acts. Her debut YA novel The Summer of Bitter and Sweet is out now. She is an assistant professor in English at Coe College.
Adib Khorram is the award-winning author of books for readers of all ages, including Darius the Great Is Not Okay, Darius the Great Deserves Better, Kiss & Tell, The Breakup Lists, Seven Special Somethings: A Nowruz Story, and Bijan Always Wins.
Adrianne White is an interdisciplinary writer and editor. Her work has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, Fusion, PBS Parent, Temporary Art Review, and the young adult anthologies All Signs Point to Yes and The (Other) F Word: A Celebration of the Fat and Fierce.
Anna Meriano is the author of the Love Sugar Magic series, This Is How We Fly, and It Sounds Like This. She works as a writing teacher in Houston, Texas.
Hayley Dennings is a queer, Black woman from the Bay Area and a French and English graduate from Loyola Marymount University. Her debut novel Bittersweet Poison, a sapphic historical fantasy set during the Harlem Renaissance, releases from Sourcebooks Fire in the fall of 2024.
