Bold Strokes: Portraits of Chicana Voices in YA Literature

With Latine communities under increasing attack, it is crucial to uplift the voices that thoughtfully and boldly portray the diversity of their communities’ experiences. This brilliant panel highlights four Bay Area Chicana authors who are publishing YA novels this year, a rare occurrence in mainstream publishing, here to reflect on what it means to be writing diverse narratives as authors from communities that are so maligned. René Peña-Govea writes about a Latina girl attending an exclusive public high school in San Francisco, who finds poetry as an escape from the pressures of being one of the only Latinas at her school and a vehicle for sparking broader debates about merit, identity, and diversity in Estela, Undrowning. Carolina Ixta weaves a tender story about love and hope in Few Blue Skies, which follows a teen as she works to protect her family and community from a major corporation taking over her town, while Sandra Proudman’s Salvación features a young Mexican vigilante determined to save her family and town from a man who could destroy it for the magic salt it contains. Also with elements of fantasy is Carnival Fantástico, Angela Montoya’s romantasy novel about a young woman posing as a fortune-teller at a magical traveling carnival, where the handsome boy who once broke her heart resurfaces. Moderated by arts activist and fellow outstanding Bay Area Chicana writer Aida Salazar, this session celebrates Chicana YA storytelling that is needed now more than ever.