I think it’s a universal language we all speak, and stories have the power to unite us as a race. While the notion of the public intellectual has fallen out of fashion, do you believe writers have a collective purpose? I think it’s our responsibility to be truthful, and not flinching from truths about the world we find uncomfortable. What is the responsibility of the writer? Of the writer of YA books? To be honest, when you’re from a minority group, just having a voice and a platform is seen as daring to some. There are parts of The Gender Games, my memoir, which are incredibly personal. What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever put into words? Obsessions are influences-what are yours? Pretty much anything by David Levithan or Patrick Ness. What book(s) do you wish you had access to as a child, but didn’t? I was amused initially as the people of Wasilla just created a whole bunch of publicity that we didn’t have to pay for! But then, as it sank in, I realized the young LGBTQ people of Alaska were being told they were somehow wrong, somehow inappropriate. What was your initial reaction to the news that it had been challenged? Without that book, I might never have understood who I really am.Īnd This Book is Gay was challenged in 2016 when residents in Wasilla, Alaska, proclaimed that they didn’t want “gay books” in the library. It struck me quickly how their experiences and thought processes echoed my own. It was while writing that book that I sat down to interview a number of transgender people. This Book Is Gay was so vital for me on a personal level. When did being a writer begin to inform your sense of identity? Today we feature an interview with Juno Dawson, author of This Book is Gay. This week, in celebration of Banned Books Week 2017, we’re publishing a series of interviews with writers whose books have been challenged or banned. The PEN Ten is PEN America’s weekly interview series. 2023 PEN America Literary Awards Ceremony.

This book is gay juno