Gene Luen Yang perfect fit for YSU English Fest

By AMANDA TONOLI

atonoli@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang was a perfect fit for the 2017 Youngstown State University English Festival’s James A. Houck Lecturer, said Tiffany Anderson, Africana Studies director.

“Gene [Yang] has been really excellent in communicating with the kids,” she said. “He has this way of telling interesting stories that combine art with creative writing and storytelling. I think one of the things that’s so great about his presentation is how he can empower [students] to do their own art and writing.”

Yang brought a different aspect of the English and literature world to the 2017 English Festival by the combination of art and novels – also known as comic books.

He is the first graphic novelist to be featured at the Festival. His book “American Born Chinese” won the Printz Award and was a National Book Award nominee, and “Boxers and Saints,” his two-volume novel about the Chinese Boxer Rebellion, won the L.A. Times Book Prize. Yang has written for the Nickelodeon series “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and for DC Comic’s Superman!

“It’s so cool for them [the students] to be able to meet authors that they know and love to read,” said Stephanie Gaskins, mother of two home-schooled children at the English Festival.

Marissa Mohapatra, Akiva Academy student and a festival participant, said she enjoyed learning about Yang’s culture and background and how it affected his life as a comic book artist.

“It’s cool to see what his life was like and how it fits into his literature,” she said.

Marissa is one of more than 3,000 students in grades seven through 12 from more than 200 schools throughout the region at the festival.

The Festival also promoted Yang’s “Reading Without Walls” challenge by encouraging students to read books with characters, topics and formats not familiar to them.

Gaskins said the English Festival provides her children the opportunity to both read different books they wouldn’t have normally read, while reading the same books as other students participating in the event.

“It’s so good for them [the students] to be able to meet authors that they know and love to read,” she said.

For information about the English Festival call 330-941-1646 or email info@ysuenglishfestival.org.