Sharon Flake, an award-winning author of young adult literature, came to the Peplow Pavilion Wednesday night, where she discussed the importance of diversity in literature and reading in general.
“When I first started writing, I thought about African American kids because I feel their voices were missing and underappreciated,” Flake said. “I often wondered how they got out of bed because they’re so burdened by stories about them that are untrue, negative and one-sided.”
Despite issues involving a lack of representation, Flake said she is optimistic about the future of young adult literature.
“When I visit schools I often find a lot of students are writers and are writing short stories and novels already,” Flake said. “And these young writers are coming from a variety of backgrounds. I think the next generation is going to be one of the most published, and I think that’s going to bring a lot of diversity to literature.”
The event, which was hosted by the English department and ICAC, was open to the public and attended by students from Manual Academy.
Manual students participated in book discussions about Flake’s book “The Skin I’m In” with several English education majors from Bradley in the weeks before the reading.
“I felt an instant connection when I read the first chapter of her book,” Tyra Johnson, a Manual Academy student, said. “In this life, people be talking about how you dress, how you look or how much money you have.”
Johnson said she agreed with Flake in that young adult literature isn’t very diverse.
“In my experience, there are a lot of white authors and not a lot of African American authors,” Johnson said. “Don’t get me wrong, the white authors’ story can be really good, but they don’t really directly relate to me usually.”
Johnson said she is a writer and found inspiration in Flake’s writing career.
“I was really interested to hear about her life as a writer and where she got her book ideas,” Johnson said. “She said she didn’t really have a process when writing her stories, but I think I’m going to attempt to get a writing process.”
English professor Melinda McBee Orzulak said it’s important for students of all ages to interact.
“High school students benefit from having authentic experiences with other readers, and it helps instill an enduring love of reading in them,” McBee Orzulak said. “Not just that, but the hope was that visiting Bradley’s campus and talking with Bradley students would help these high schoolers imagine themselves in college in the future.”
McBee Orzulak said the discussions benefitted Bradley students as well.
“I also wanted Bradley students to get some experience discussing Flake’s book with teen readers,” McBee Orzulak said. “Often teens have different, sometimes emotional, reactions to the book because they’re living the everyday life of being a teenager, dealing firsthand with the issues the book is exploring.”
McBee Orzulak said she felt young adult literature is still relevant to Bradley students who are not interested in teaching, writing or publishing in that genre.
“Young adult literature also grapples with issues of ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Who will I become?’ and that’s often [something] you’re grappling with in college,” McBee Orzulak said. “While the specific questions might be different in high school, often the big issues carry through to college and even adulthood.”
