tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23502762.post6977796137902981636..comments2024-02-19T23:01:34.366+11:00Comments on eglantine's cake:: The future of YAPenni Russonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17956453252195293843noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23502762.post-91589727390308266522010-01-02T01:59:04.584+11:002010-01-02T01:59:04.584+11:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23502762.post-30020851312456297242007-07-26T20:45:00.000+10:002007-07-26T20:45:00.000+10:00Give me a Dostoyevsky and it won't hold my attenti...Give me a Dostoyevsky and it won't hold my attention either. Maybe that's why I write YA.<BR/><BR/>Thanks so much for pasting your response in Lili - it's fascinating to read the similarities and differences, particularly from another writer who has a different industry perspective. <BR/><BR/>I agree with you about graphic novels - I actually talked very vaguely to a publisher about writing a 'script' for one and having someone else illustrate it and basically in Australia the process would simply be too expensive for them to pursue it, unless you had a very enthusiastic illustrator/partner who was willing to split royalties. It's a shame (though I totally understand their reluctance to overcommit to a financially risky project and I'm sure if I was deeply passionate I could find a way to make it happen). <BR/><BR/>I also agree that the way that young people interact with narrative is completely different. My kids are already postmodern subjects, encountering and engaging with stories in a fragmented intertextual way - for example a lot of kids - including mine - first experience of certian fairy tales may come through a parody like Shrek or Hoodwinked, they end up piecing together the original story through references, jokes, asides. I think this can cause anxiety in some people who want to regulate children's access to narrative and 'literature' but I think it's extremely exciting that we're raising a generation of critically literate readers who are well versed in metafictions and intertexts.Penni Russonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17956453252195293843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23502762.post-55447578025693438452007-07-26T16:25:00.000+10:002007-07-26T16:25:00.000+10:00I got that email too, and will copy my response he...I got that email too, and will copy my response here:<BR/><BR/>*Do you think YA as a category is dead? has Ólder Readers taken that over? Is the field more genre-driven these days?<BR/><BR/>Absolutely not. I think YA has never been stronger - particularly in the US. Books like Looking for Alaska, Octavian Nothing, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, King Dork and the work of Scott Westerfeld, Maureen Johnson and Holly Black are all pushing YA boundaries in fabulous ways.<BR/><BR/>There's a lot of 'genre' books out there - just over half the titles I just mentioned would be considered genre books. But that's the beauty of YA - it can be in any genre, about anything at all. It has no constraints or limitations.<BR/><BR/>Although there is a lot of confusion and conflation around the ideas of 'older readers' and 'young adult'.<BR/><BR/>*How do you think the field has changed over the last 20 years, according to your own experience/observation?<BR/><BR/>Writers and publishers are a lot more willing to take risks - with format, content, style, genre. It's very much a something for everyone approach, rather than a one size fits all approach.<BR/>There's certainly a lot more being published - and that means a lot more crap, as well as a lot more gold.<BR/>Production values have improved dramatically - there's amazing-looking books like Monster Blood Tattoo (although I don't think that's a YA title) and The Arrival and American Born Chinese.<BR/><BR/>*Do you think readers'tastes have changed?<BR/><BR/>Of course. They always do, in 20 years. We eat differently, listen to different music, wear different clothes. But I think essentially Young Adults are still looking to be challenged (although not necessarily by complicated language), engaged, entertained, and to see themselves in the pages of the books they read (even if, in the book, they are a vampire, a princess or a serial killer).<BR/><BR/>*what about the industry? Are certain kinds of books not being published? If so, what?<BR/><BR/>I certainly see a difference between the books being published here and the books being published in the US. Our books are more conservative, less willing to take risks. This is probably due to a number of factors - we're a much smaller pond, and one that is very much reliant on the schools market to survive. If a book won't make it into school libraries, it's unlikely to do well. I think it's also a bit of a general climate - because publishers aren't publishing edgier books, writers aren't submitting them, etc. Having said that, I don't see any publishers actively soliciting or commissioning books with, for example, queer themes. I've noticed a lot of gay 'sidekicks' in Australian books over the past few years - but I cannot think of a single Australian YA title with a gay male protagonist.<BR/><BR/>*what do you think is the future for the field? can you identify any trends within it?<BR/>I don't know what I think will happen, but I know what I would LIKE to happen: Broader acceptance of YA as a legitimate literary genre (both popularly and critically - why aren't YA titles eligible for the Miles Franklin?). Getting rid of that 'YA is angsty' stigma once and for all. Broader acceptance of verse novels and graphic novels as legitimate literary forms - in fact, of all texts, including television, film, computer games and online content. It's easy to forget that most visual texts are 'written' as well. If all of these different sorts of texts are given the same weighting and status - and judged on their content, rather than their format, then I think we'll see a surge in the amount of young people (and adults) who read for pleasure.<BR/>Also, in a somewhat related note, I'd like to see the way young people are portrayed in the media change. There are way too many "KIDS GONE WILD" stories on the tabloid news. If half the things that the media say about young people were said about black people, jews or women, there'd be a public outcry. And yet young people are the ones who have no voice to be able to stand up for themselves.<BR/><BR/>*do you think the quality of books has gone up/down/stayed pretty much the same, over the last 20 years?<BR/><BR/>Both. There are plenty of YA titles that are pretty awful, both in terms of their production values and their content. But there are some truly amazing books that I think are much, much better quality than anything we've ever seen before.<BR/><BR/>*do you think young readers can handle challenging books (complex structure, vocab or ideas) in the same way as they used to? if not, why not?<BR/>Absolutely. More so. Particularly in the area of structure. I use an example where your average teenager is watching an episode of House on TV, that has multiple storylines, timelines and confusing things like different characters playing different roles. This teenager is following this, while flicking back during the ads to Heroes on Channel 7, which has a whopping 13 protagonists. At the same time, they're texting a friend about geography homework, updating their Facebook page and MSNing someone in Poland.<BR/><BR/>I think young people have access to a lot more complicated forms of narrative (in film, tv, literature, online), and are more sophisticated consumers of narrative than any previous generation. Give them a Dostoyevsky and it will probably fail to hold their attention, but if you give them something complex, challenging, engaging and fast-paced, they'll eat it up.lilihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03362725678748958671noreply@blogger.com