David Yoon on Writing Racial Dynamics in YA Fiction
From the Write-minded Podcast, Hosted by Brooke Warner and Grant Faulkner
Write-minded: Weekly Inspiration for Writers is currently in its fourth year. We are a weekly podcast for writers craving a unique blend of inspiration and real talk about the ups and downs of the writing life. Hosted by Brooke Warner of She Writes and Grant Faulkner of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), each theme-focused episode of Write-minded features an interview with a writer, author, or publishing industry professional.
This week, guest David Yoon joins us in a conversation that takes on often-fraught topics with humor and candor. We talk about why YA is such fertile ground for representative stories about race, culture, and identity, and David’s mission to bring more visibility to writers of color. We talk about his approach to writing and how he writes not for or to a particular genre, but to sort out the questions he’s grappling with—something so many writers will relate to.
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David Yoon is the New York Times bestselling author of Frankly in Love, Super Fake Love Song, Version Zero and City of Orange. He’s a William C. Morris Award finalist and an Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature Honor book recipient. He’s co-publisher of Joy Revolution, a Random House young adult imprint dedicated to love stories starring people of color. He’s also co-founder of Yooniverse Media. David lives in Los Angeles with his wife, novelist Nicola Yoon, and their daughter.
