50 min listen
Young Adult Fiction Author Arvin Ahmadi
FromStrange Fruit
ratings:
Length:
35 minutes
Released:
Sep 3, 2020
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Young Adult (YA) fiction is a literary tradition that has largely lacked diversity when it comes to the race and sexuality of its main characters.
Author Arvin Ahmadi's new book, "How It All Blew Up," has a queer Iranian American teenager protagonist. He joins us this week to talk about how other authors of YA novels can be more inclusive of diverse communities and identities.
Author Arvin Ahmadi's new book, "How It All Blew Up," has a queer Iranian American teenager protagonist. He joins us this week to talk about how other authors of YA novels can be more inclusive of diverse communities and identities.
Released:
Sep 3, 2020
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Strange Fruit #42: Playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney: Playwright [Tarell Alvin McCraney](http://www.steppenwolf.org/ensemble/members/details.aspx?id=54) has been called the next August Wilson. Maybe that can be partially attributed to the fact that there are so few prominent African American playwrights, but there's still no doubt he is carrying an important mantle. At age 33, he's already had plays debut at the Royal Court London, New York's Vineyard Theatre, the Young Vic, and Steppenwolf Theatre, where he is an artist in residence. In March, he received the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize. We spoke to McCraney this week about his career, and how and why he writes about black gay life. He told us the real-life roots of some of his most famous works, and about working as August Wilson's assistant at Yale (including an unforgettable story about buying Wilson an iPod). In our Juicy Fruit segment this week, we had lots of news to cover: The #[solidarityisforwhitewomen](http://thehai by Strange Fruit