You are very welcome to visit us at: www.facebook.com / Arkadia International Bookshop and “like” us if indeed you do!

Dear friend of Arkadia,

You are invited to Diversity in Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy by author Suzanne van Rooyen on Tuesday 8.10 at 6pm at Arkadia (Nervanderinkatu 11)

https://www.facebook.com/events/568690626499921/

Welcome!

Warm regards,

Ian
www.arkadiabookshop.fi

–Entrance is free but a donation of €3 (or more!) to fund the event is suggested and would be most welcome.

Diversity in Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

Science fiction and fantasy, as both a literary and movie/TV genre, has been dominated by straight white males for decades. From Arnold Schwarzenegger in his roles in Terminator and Total Recall to Charlie Hunnam in Pacific Rim, from Christian Bale in
Equilibrium to Tom Cruise as ever the man’s man in films like Minority Report and Oblivion. Given that a good number of these films are based on the works by literary greats like Philip K Dick, Asimov and others, this straight white male syndrome seems prevalent in the genre, and is sadly true for Young Adult fiction as well. Why are there so few people of colour in these leading roles? Why aren’t there lesbian heroines saving the world from alien invasion?


Published author and publicity manager for Entranced Publishing, Suzanne van Rooyen, will examine why science fiction and fantasy is slow to evolve, why these genres are prone to white- and straight-washing, and why it is vital that young adult literature embrace diversity.

Bio: Suzanne is an author from South Africa with a Master’s degree in Music, Mind and Technology. Her published works include the cyberpunk novel Dragon’s Teeth (Divertir, 2011), the YA LGBT science fiction novel Obscura Burning (Etopia, 2012) and several short stories published by Space and Time, and Niteblade amongst others. When not writing, Suzanne teaches dance and music at Espoo International School and is the publicity manager for Entranced Publishing, USA.

Suzanne is represented by Jordy Albert of the Booker Albert Agency.