The Storyteller bookstore at VIP Bazar hosted an engaging event for book lovers on Saturday, November 20. The event featured Benjamin Alire Sáenz, author of NYT bestseller Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World as well as Rachel Lynn Solomon, internationally acclaimed young-adult author of Today, Tonight, Tomorrow. The event called ‘The Rainbow Compass’ was organised by Mayura Misra, owner of The Storyteller, and by Simon and Schuster India. It began with a dynamic cosplay competition, followed by an interactive pop-culture trivia tournament that enamoured the audience.
The two author sessions hosted by Chaitanya Srivastava, of St. Xaviers College Mumbai and owner of bookstagram account @chai_n_books, delved into topics of LGBTQIA+ identity, representation, family and literature. t2 sat down and absorbed it all....
Benjamin Alire Sáenz on Aristotle and Dante, LGBTQIA+ and family
Enthralled to be in conversation with his fans in India through a virtual event for the very first time, Sáenz sat for a conversation on his latest release, Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World, the much-awaited sequel to the famous Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. Sáenz discussed the germination of the titular characters, expressing that nothing appeared out of nowhere but essentially came from a place inside oneself.
“I’ve known Ari and Dante all my life because they have both lived in me. Ari is the fictionalisation of who I am. At least a part of me. Then there’s a part of me that’s Dante and I’ve always been like Dante. There are versions of that,” said Sáenz.
He elaborated on the importance of self-acceptance in the span of one’s journey, especially as part of the LGBTQIA+ community and attempts to explore the same through the novel. Documenting his trajectory from writing poetry to writing novels for young adults, Sáenz reminisced his love for both and the process of transmuting life and poetry into a love story of two innocent and tender teenage boys.
While discussing creating a healthy familial environment for his characters and depiction of parents in YA novels, Sáenz strongly stated, “In most young adult novels, the parents are absent or they’re horrible people or they’re dysfunctional or something, but I wanted to say there are some families where the son loves their parents and the parents love their son and I wanted to put that in there.” He emphasised that more often than not, a lot of gay children perceive that their parents hate them, and he wanted to model parents that love their children, that accept them and will support them. “If it’s not their parents, someone else will love them and support them. There is somebody in the world who will do that for you.”
Rachel Lynn Solomon on Jewish representation in the Young Adult genre
Discussing her YA novels published under Simon and Schuster, Rachel Lynn Solomon engaged in a heartful talk on representation, romance and literature. Solomon stated that her gradual shift towards romantic comedy has made her feel the happiest. Her book Today, Tonight, Tomorrow is about two rival overachievers who realise over a course of 24 hours on the last day of senior year that they’re in love with each other. Having grown up surrounded by literature where Jewish presence was mostly highlighted in Holocaust literature, Solomon sought to break that chain. Speaking on Jewish representation in YA novels, she added that something really important to her as a Jewish author was writing Jewish characters.
Her first book came out in 2018, titled You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone. For the characters in the book, Judaism is integral to who they are. “From that point, I made a vow to myself that I was only going to write Jewish characters,” she said. She elaborated that response from both Jewish and non-Jewish readers regarding the lack of modern novel books with Jewish characters as well as added exposure to Judaism through her novels further strengthened her resolve. Based on these cumulative experiences, Solomon has since then sought to contribute to increasing the visibility of Jewish characters and culture in the modern YA genre.
Pictures: Rashbehari Das