YALLWEST #YALLSTAYATHOME DAY 1 – Creating in the Time of Corona, This American Experience

Since this would have been my first book event to go to, I decided to create a day-by-day post of me attending YALLWEST’s Virtual Convention, YALLSTAYATHOME. The scheduled conferences were held through Zoom, and it was nice to get to hear from experienced authors and writers on their perspectives on various topics. 

Here were some notes I took during the Zoom conferences today:

• 2 pm EST: Creating in the Time of Corona – Moderated by Nicola Yoon
• Attendees:  Alexandra Bracken, Simone Elkeles, Sarah Enni, Sam Maggs, and David Yoon
•  Authors have been working from home in pajamas for centuries. Who better to give some insight to the rest of us stuck at home
• Favorite moments:
• Alexandra Bracken – “You do not have to be creative right now. It’s ok to just live [survive] for now.”
•  Happy birthday Simone Elkeles!
• Simone is pretty funny! “I don’t want to write about pandemics or real life right nw, because real life sucks!”
• Alexandra: “Any time you spend is not wasting time.”
• Sam: “TV is a great form of storytelling.” FACTS! 
• Question – Favorite thing about being a writer: the fans. Meeting them, getting fan mail, fan art, seeing people’s faces.
• David’s fuzzy chair! He’s such a nerd, he’s the best!
• Question for Sam – How is writing for video games different than writing for novel? (Sam: “Your writing is just one of many fields. It’s huge and complicated. A video game can between 2 people to 16 people. Indie games can be a team of 2-14 people.”
• Nicola shared a quote from Toni Morrison: “ “There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

• 7 pm EST: This American Experience – Moderated by Lauren Myracle
• Attendees:   Jennifer De Leon, Natasha Díaz, George M Johnson, Bill Konigsberg, and Angie Thomas
•  What does it mean to be a modern American? Which experiences are unique and which knit us together? Where did we come from and where are we heading?
• Favorite Moments:
•  Bill Konigsberg – “I’ve dealt with a suicide attempt…I want us to become more comfortable with talking about mental health.”
• Jennifer DeLeon – “Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From novel. Only asked to people of color, so it can be taken as offensive to some.” (I haven’t really felt this way when someone asks me where I’m “from.” I just say I’m American with Jamaican heritage.)
• George M Johnson – “The biggest thing I’m advocating is anti-blackness. Anti-blackness would be the biggest issue I’d have to advocate from. It’s primarily in the black community, things I am ‘othered’ by, which is my queerness.”
• Positive changes you’ve seen in publishing: Angie – “Publishing is starting to see that we have a role in young people. We have a responsibility to young people to show them their American experiences. And in doing that we’re showing them themselves and for other young people we’re showing them those windows and sliding glass doors as routines.”
• Natasha Diaz – “As someone who is multiracial and who looks the way I do, it’s important to recognize those privileges. 
• Lauren asked an important question of how sexual topics and scenes be depicted in fiction. “Do we or not show sex on the page?” Because of how uncomfortable it can get for whoever is reading. 
• George M Johnson, author of All Boys Don’t Wear Blue, made a good point, “If we’re being honest I mean like you know it’s like first of all like how many heterosexual people are gonna let that child walk in the house with this like I am only one right. And so it’s like that’s like going to be issue number one issue. Number two, I talk about sex in the book and I don’t just talk about it from the point of molestation. I don’t just talk about it from the point of sexual assault. I talk about the first time I had seen that not only as a top but also as a bottom. I thought it was very important to talk about the complexity of what queer sex looked like.”
• If you could have a singer write the theme song for your book, who would it be?
• Angie immediately said, “Tupac!” [in reference for The Hate U Give]
• George – Anita Baker.

Note: After the panel ended, a lot of viewers took to Twitter to share their disdain for the way Lauren handled the panel, and some of her ignorant questions. I didn’t notice until after the panel how bad it really was for the panelists on the Zoom feed. I did notice how uncomfortable and bored maybe some of them looked on screen. For a panel that is supposed to supporting POC artists and writers to share their American experiences, they should have chosen a better moderator. Lauren has history with shooting down her panelists and validating her experiences by inserting them.

The author at Yallfest who talked over a panel of queer and PoC authors as a moderator about how important the narrative of straight white males are is Lauren Myracle. The following transcript of the zoom panel has a rough translation of what was said. pic.twitter.com/bbJK24VdpL

— joe hill & gabriel rodriguez stan account (@nekuthebooklock) April 26, 2020

One thought I can’t support in this sad incident of #YallStayHome is the unsaid expectation of marginalized authors on the panel speaking up at the moment. POC and queer writers shouldn’t have been put in such a situation in an event meant to promote their literary voices.

— Fanna [wants more south-asian books] (@fanatality) April 26, 2020

SHE IS LITERALLY THE ONLY ONE SMILING. I can’t, I feel so bad. They all look so uncomfortable. I’m so sorry. pic.twitter.com/a85nxW8m9V

— Belle | XVII | ✝️ (@belleeeey_) April 26, 2020

Part of our programming today did not live up to our YALLWEST ideals of inclusivity and creating a safe space for all. We are deeply sorry, and are reaching out to everyone involved to find the best way to resolve the situation.

— YALLSTAYHOME (@YALLWEST) April 26, 2020

After speaking with the panelists on yesterday’s This American Life panel, we’ve decided to schedule another panel for all of them along with Nic Stone, who graciously offered to moderate.

— YALLSTAYHOME (@YALLWEST) April 26, 2020

Come back tomorrow for Day 2’s escapades from YALLWEST!