Today was a pretty average day until this evening, when I attended yet another panel discussion at the Center for Fiction, this one on “Before and After Harry Potter: YA and Fantasy.” It was actually really interesting, possibly the most interesting of the three panels I’ve attended, even though young-adult fantasy is still somewhat under-represented in my reading, to the point that I’ve yet to read anything by any of the five panelists.
They were: Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Justine Larbalestier, Chris Moriarty, and Delia Sherman. And, more than either of the other two earlier discussions, this one felt more like a group of friends getting together to talk about the books they all love. It was an interesting discussion, and I left wanting to pick up copies of all of their books, plus lots of the other books they mentioned as influences or favorites, now and growing up. (Only Black and Larbalestier were previously on my to-read list.)
In many ways, J.K. Rowling’s books — and moreover their phenomenal, financial success — changed the landscape of YA. Even though, as the panelists pointed out, the Harry Potter books technically aren’t YA at all. They’re middle-grade books, aimed at a slightly younger age…or at least, they are in the beginning, when Harry’s younger. They do tend to blur the lines a little.
But then YA as a genre — or, rather, a marketing and bookselling category — blurs lines like that all the time. It’s a comfortable place if you love every genre and want to write in them all, said Larbalestier. The only things that it tends not to be, Black later noted, are elegiac and nostalgic. There are plenty of books that are sold as YA for no other reason than that’s what their author typically writes. Or aren’t sold as YA because the subject matter is considered too dark for young readers. Or were originally published as adult fiction, but later re-published as YA. In her native Australia, Larbalestier noted, a lot of YA is published in both categories. And, interestingly, here in the US (and possibly in Canada?), if you write YA, no matter the genre, your books will all be shelved together. So if someone likes your realistic fiction, they’ll stumble on your fantasy or science fiction, and vice versa, when combing the bookstore shelves.
Moriarty talked about reading fiction like Tolkien growing up, identifying with the heroes and then seeing the people who were really like her, seeing that they were not the heroes, and how her fiction now is often in conversation with what she read growing up, reacting to and putting her own stamp on it. She also noted one thing about Harry Potter that I’d never considered: it’s made teaching fiction writing to younger students much easier, since they’ve all read it — it’s as close to a book that everyone has read that we probably have — and you can you use it discuss things like plot and story that might otherwise seem a little obscure or esoteric to them at first glance.
Harry Potter‘s influence has definitely been felt financially, and in the decisions by publishers, who probably wouldn’t have taken the same kind of risks they’re taking now. Now they’re trying desperately to recreate that success, first with Twilight — which did something a little different, bringing paranormal romance into fantasy and YA — and The Hunger Games and the like. In the process, they’re throwing lots of things at the wall to see what will stick, including lots of weird new books and lots of older stuff in their backlists. A rising tide lifts all boats, and Harry Potter‘s success has brought older books back into print and brought new readers into the fold.
So, anyway, lots of food for thought, and a few books to remember to add to my reading list at some point. On the (very crowded, quite warm) train home tonight, I finished reading the not-YA, almost completely not-fantasy State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. I liked it, and I liked the characters, but I wouldn’t rate it anywhere in the same category as her other books that I’ve read. (Maybe with The Magician’s Assistant, but not with either Bel Canto or Patron Saint of Liars, both simply terrific novels.)
Anyway, that was my Thursday. A pretty standard work day. A pretty blah dinner at an Italian restaurant I’ll probably never be back to. And lots of talk about fantasy and books.