This year’s author’s event was presented in an original hybrid format in order to enjoy a stimulating conversation with one of today’s most famous science fiction/fantasy writers, N. K. Jemisin. Recent mother of a young child, she joined us remotely from Brooklyn, and was interviewed by local writer, Wendy N. Wagner.
Jemisin’s interview shared insight into her development as a writer, explaining her technical improvement over time, her publishing journey and insights into the publishing world, as well as some of the inspirations behind her books’ diverse worlds.
Describing writing as a hobby and passion that she had had most of her life, Jemisin noted that even while studying psychology in graduate school, writing was her form of procrastination! Not interested in publishing her stories for quite some time, she worked as an applied counseling psychologist, while also developing her writing craft in her free time – with workshops, a writing group, plenty of reading, and just plain old enjoying the creativity of writing.
In her description of getting her first books published, Jemisin illustrated how publishing prejudice influenced her. When she sent The Killer Moon to publishing houses in New York, she received multiple rejection letters, all of the ilk that the publishers liked the book but didn’t want it because they were “not sure who would want to read” it. Jemisin became angry because it was a typical fantasy novel, just with a predominantly black cast. (Later, when published in 2012, the book would be nominated for a Nebula Award.)
She used the fuel of her anger to rewrite The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms – a book she’d written years previously for fun – and she changed some details: from a male protagonist to an angry brown woman, from third to first person, and to a more lyrical, poetic style. This manuscript was sold at auction, and was later nominated for the Hugo and Nebula awards, winning the Locust Award.
Wagner asked Jemisin about where her ideas for worldbuilding come from, and the answers were quite delightful. For The City We Became, Jemisin had become intrigued by the fact that some cities feel welcoming while others may feel neutral or hostile, just upon visiting. Coupled with observations of sunlight on windows that gave her the impression of being observed by the city, the idea of cities as living beings came alive.
Jemisin said a few times that she “likes a challenge.” She loved the challenge of writing and collaborating on a graphic novel, and, if the video-gaming industry were a better place to work systemically, she would welcome the challenge of writing in that new form – for an intriguing video game.
We were pleased that the event drew a crowd whose ages and geographies ranged wider than we have seen in the past. Attendees came from Vancouver, WA, the Oregon Coast, and all around the Portland Metro area. Additionally, younger audience members and college students were a more prominent group than in former Author Events.
Another plus of our recent Author Events experience is that access has been offered to interested parties through a streaming option or by means of a post-event link. These options allow the authors’ amazing interviews to be enjoyed by folks who are not able to make it to the live event.
