#mark oshiro
¡Qué bonita bandera! AKA what heritage(s) do you claim?
I identify as Latinx these days, but it’s actually a complicated answer. I grew up identifying as either Mexican, Chicano, or Latino. I’m a transracial adoptee, so all I knew about my biological parents was that my dad immigrated from Mexico and then left soon after I was born. I did one of those DNA tests in my late 20s and discovered that I was mostly Salvadoreño and Guatemalan, but I felt strange identifying with that heritage since it had not been part of my upbringing. Latinx feels right to me, both as a political statement and to describe who I am. I am brown and proud!
When was the first time you saw yourself represented?
The not-so-great answer: Speedy Gonzales. My twin brother and I loved him. The actually-great answer: The House on Mango Streetby Sandra Cisneros, which I read for my freshman year English class. I was 14 years old, and it changed my life forever.
How do you connect to your heritage through your books (if at all)?
I wrote a transracial Latinx adoptee into Anger is a Gift to explore the complicated issues of heritage, race, and identity. She’s not the protagonist, but plays a huge part in the life of my main character. My second novel (currently untitled) is a Latinx-inspired/influenced magical realism/horror story that takes place in a desert society and deals with migration. It is a much more intense exploration of my heritage, especially since I literally would not exist if my father had not immigrated from Mexico to California.
What do you hope for the future of Latinx books?
I want so many different types of stories! I want those of us in the Latinx community to explore all the issues we face; I want us to be able to celebrate our culture and share it with others, but with us at the helm. Ultimately, I want Latinx people telling Latinx stories.
What is the book that inspired you to write for kids/teens?
There are quite a few, but The House on Mango Streetis always going to be my first answer. That book showed me that stories could be about people like me, could be set in places that looked like where I lived and could be about things that affected my life. I am also massively inspired by Octavia Butler,Ursula K. LeGuin, and the Animorphs series (DON’T JUDGE, THOSE BOOKS ARE GREAT AND MESSED UP).
What are you writing now?
My YA debut, Anger Is a Gift, comes out May 22, 2018; I’m currently hard at work at a magical-realism-meets-horror standalone set in a desert. You can read an excerpt here:click!
MARK OSHIRO is the Hugo-nominated writer of the online Mark Does Stuff universe (Mark Reads and Mark Watches), where he analyzes book and TV series. He was the nonfiction editor of Queers Destroy Science Fiction! and the co-editor of Speculative Fiction 2015, and is the President of the Con or Bust Board of Directors. When not writing/recording reviews or editing, Oshiro engages in social activism online and offline. Anger is a Gift is his debut YA contemporary fiction novel.
Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Middle Grade Fiction: July-December 2022
Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Middle Grade Fiction: July-December 2022
The Language of Seabirds by Will Taylor (July 19th)
Jeremy is not excited about the prospect of spending the summer with his dad and his uncle in a seaside cabin in Oregon. It’s the first summer after his parents’ divorce, and he hasn’t exactly been seeking alone time with his dad. He doesn’t have a choice, though, so he goes… and on his first day takes a walk on the beach and finds himself…
There are two things Mark Oshiro is great at: (a) brilliant writing – their debut YA novel, Anger Is a Gift is a heartwrenching, powerful, must-read and (b) finding new ways to make me cry. Their blurb for How To Be Remy Cameron confirms both. I’m so grateful for this award-winning author’s kindness and utter love for Remy and his story.
PRE-ORDERHOW TO BE REMY CAMERONNOW!
