Cognotes 2019 Annual Conference Highlights - 6

6

COGNOTES

HIGHLIGHTS

ALAANNUAL.ORG/MOBILE-APP|#ALAAC19

Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler Tomi Adeyemi Shares
Share New Take on a
Inspiration of Culture and
Classic Myth
Heritage

Tomi Adeyemi on Fantasy Genre as Conduit

Adeyemi began to
Tomi Adeyemi, New York Times stir up the gifts and
bestselling author of Children of Blood imagination within
and Bone, engaged in a witty, thought- her. She began to
provoking conversation with Rose Brock, understand that true
PhD, professor of children's and young inspiration - her
adult literature and library science and inspiration - came
cofounder of the North Texas Teen Book from her culture and
Fest, on June 24. This work received the heritage.
By Regina Carter, 2019 ALA Emerging Leader

Graphic novelist Frank Miller (left) and screenwriter, producer, and comic
book artist Tom Wheeler discuss their work during the auditorium speaker
series June 23.
By Marley Kalt, University of Michigan

For screenwriter Tom Wheeler, working
with graphic novelist Frank Miller is like a
dream come true. "Frank has been a huge
influence on me," said Wheeler at the Auditorium Speakers Series session June 23.
"I remember his comics vividly growing up
and he was kind of an unknown mentor to
me." Their new collaboration, Cursed, is a
prequel to the Arthurian legend featuring
Nimue, the "Lady of the Lake."
Miller and Wheeler grew up as fans of
the King Arthur tales, sharing stories about
several of the different tellings of the myth,
from Disney's The Sword in the Stone to
Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
For Miller, it was the elasticity of the
Arthurian mythology that drew him toward
illustrating Wheeler's story. "[The story]
could be done for children or for adults. It
can be terrifying. It can be romantic. It can
be all of these things at once," Miller said.
One feature that sets Miller and Wheeler's approach to this legend apart from
other versions of the Arthurian tale is the
focus on a female character. Wheeler shared
that his daughter inspired him to choose
Nimue as their story's hero. "We all kind
of find Arthurian moments, you know,

All conference
recordings will be
available
four to six weeks
after conference.
Details to follow!

'seize the sword,' [but] women had to step
into that story on their own," Wheeler said.
"Who is the hero that my daughter, who is
12, looks to in this mythology that I love
so much?"
Miller added that Wheeler's writing
"took a surprisingly feminist slant that the
legend had never showcased before. That's
a whole different wrinkle, and adds another
dimension to such a masculine canvas,"
Miller said.
Despite their excitement about exploring
Arthurian characters in new ways, developing this story presented challenges for its

2018 Waterstone's Children's Book Prize
and was recognized as a 2019 YALSA
Morris Award Finalist.
Adeyemi's novel is situated in a fantasy
world that incorporates themes of racism, oppression, and the abuse of power.
Children of Blood and Bone was inspired
by Adeyemi's adoration of Avatar: The
Last Airbender, and a visit to a gift shop
in Brazil. It was while she was in that gift
shop that she encountered a black work of
art and arrived at the realization that there
could indeed be black gods and goddesses.

This revelation was pivotal to the writing
of Children of Blood and Bone.
After that chance encounter, Adeyemi
began to stir up the gifts and imagination within her. She began to understand
that true inspiration - her inspiration
- came from her culture and heritage.
Adeyemi realized that seedlings of an
idea around police brutality and black
fantasy need not be disparate but could

» see page 10

2019 ANNUAL CONFERENCE EXHIBITS

EXHIBITS
HIGHLIGHTS

» see page 10
https://2019.alaannual.org/mobile-appi#alaac18
Cognotes 2019 Annual Conference Highlights

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cognotes 2019 Annual Conference Highlights
