On Beyond Stonewall: Young Adult Literature with LGBTQ Content
On Monday, October 3, 2011, over fifty students, staff and community members gathered to hear Dr. Christine Jenkins speak on the topic of the history of LGBTQ in young adult literature at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN. Titled “On Beyond Stonewall: Young Adult Literature with LGBTQ Content,†Dr. Jenkins took the audience back to 1969, when the first novel was published (I’ll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip) and discussed the developments of the literature since then up through the present day. Through Dr. Jenkins’ talk, we learned about the development – glacial though its pace may be – of young adult literature with LGBTQ content, and whether or not and to what extent it provides meaningful and accurate reflections for young people.
After her talk, students and other attendees browsed through over 100 LGBTQ YA books that were displayed on the stage. It was quite striking to see a visual presentation of the growth of the literature over the years. The organizers of the event (me – assistant professor Sarah Park and my student assistant Laura Camp) created placards indicating the decades in which the books were published: 1 in 1969, a handful in the 1970s; a handful more in the 1980s and 1990s, and then an explosion in the 2000s. Audience members repeatedly commented on how wonderful it was to see this visual representation and to be able to look through so many of the books.
In an effort to get more of our students involved in YALSA, we displayed YALSA posters on the walls and placed flyers and other materials alongside refreshments prepared by members of the St. Kate’s Library and Information Science program.
Dr. Jenkins, an associate professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has written extensively about LGBTQ YA literature. She is the co-author (with Michael Cart) of The Heart Has Its Reasons: Young Adult Literature with Gay/Lesbian/Queer Content, 1969-2004(Scarecrow Press, 2006).
The event was hosted by St. Catherine University’s Master of Library and Information Science Program.
Posted on behalf of Sarah Park, Ph.D.