Diversity in the News

May 23rd —May 30th, 2013

CBC DIVERSITY/COMMITTEE MEMBERS IN THE NEWS

• Diversity on the Page, Behind the Pencil, and in the Office at PW

ON OUR RADAR

• Islam in the Classroom via School Library Journal
• Author Interview: Tim Tingle on How I Became a Ghost, a story about The Trail of Tears, at Edmondsun.com
• The Government Can’t Stop Our Heterosexual Love: YA Dystopia From A Gay Perspective at YALSA’s The Hub
• Five Wrong-Headed Reasons for Not Writing Diverse Characters in Science Fiction via Rich in Color
• Guest Post ~ African youth literature: what visibility on the international market? by Mariette Robbes at PaperTigers.org
• Kat Zhang to Pen Once We Were at the CBC
• Interview with Kat Zhang at Diversity in YA
• Foster the Teens: Foster Kids in YA Literature at YALSA’s The Hub
• Your favorite YA books about Asian Americans! at Diversity in YA
• Best Asian-American Children’s Books via InCultureParent
• What I Like about Eric Gansworth's If I Ever Get Out of Here at AICL
• DiYA Author Spotlight: Mitali Perkins at Diversity in YA
• Author Interview: Shana Mlawski on Hammer of Witches at Diversity If YA
• Guest Post by Andre Norton Award Winner E. C. Meyer at Diversity in YA

Industry Q&A with author Bill Konigsberg

Tell us about your most recent book and how you came to write it.

My most recent novel is Openly Straight. It will be published by Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic) in June of 2013. I came to write it because I was exploring the coming out experience for LGBT folks like myself. I wondered why it is that gay people have to constantly label ourselves in a way that seems to overshadow every other aspect of our identities, and how unfair it is that we must continue to do this all our lives. I was interested in the idea that we are being dishonest if we choose to highlight a different label. I felt (and feel) that there are tons of books about the process and value of "coming out," but precious few about what happens after we do.

 Do you think of yourself as a diverse author?

As an author who believes there is great power in diversity of thought and experience, I am definitely a diverse author. In my first novel, Out of the Pocket, I wanted to make sure that my cast of characters reflected the diversity of our culture. In that novel, my main character is a gay Caucasian male. His best friend, Austin, is half Mexican and half Caucasian. His other best friend, Rahim, is African American. I do think that there is a tendency in young adult fiction to whitewash our culture, which may relate to the fact that a high percentage of YA authors are white. In each of my books, I make a point of showing racial, ethnic, and sexual diversity. I do this because I think it is so important for teens to see themselves reflected in literature.