This panel was made up of some big names in the LGBTQIA+ YA fiction world. We had Patrice Caldwell who is releasing her book in 2020 it’s called A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope, and is very queer. Corinne Duyvis whose The Art of Saving the World includes an asexual lesbian her other works have include dynamic genders as well. Mark Oshiro, their newest work is Each of Us a Desert, about two women falling in love against a harsh fantasy desert background, Adam Silvera whose most recent work is Infinity Son about two brothers who get powers and this time the gay one does. Finally we have Aiden Thomas they are responsible for the mega hit Cemetery Boys.

The panel spent a lot of time talking about how to approach gay origin tales from a structural level. Like making the myths queer. They also examined why the use of modern terms feels weird in a fantasy setting is it just something we’re trained that feel contemporary?

A couple of the books they suggested for reading were (and I agree)

Cinderella is Dead by Kaylynn Bayron

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

They also talked about the great variety of queer fiction available for young adults today and how they can’t wait to see what growth in the genre brings (since it’s already brought such good things).

Image by wal_172619 from Pixabay