💬🌿Maia Kobabe's Origin Story

Origin Stories with JJK

In this episode, we are going to get to know how Maia Kobabe became Maia Kobabe. In 2019, Maia Kobabe made eir debut as a traditionally published cartoonist with their graphic memoir, GENDER QUEER. GENDER QUEER is about Maia’s coming to eir understanding—and coming out—as a non-binary person. It’s a frank and mature book, whose intended audience is for older teens and adults. This book is a look at the intensely cathartic journey Maia took, and as you’ll hear from Maia in a moment, was written, in part, to help eir family understand what it means to be non-binary and asexual. This interview was recorded well before GENDER QUEER became the target of book banning initiatives across the country. As is often the case with these situations, passages have been taken out of context and disseminated as whole, creating hysteria around the book. What I have often been seeing int the news is a decrying of what is and isn’t appropriate for children. Of course, GENDER QUEER wasn’t written for children, but for young adults. From what I have been seeing, the terms “children” and “young adults” are often lumped together as one, which is a mischaracterization of where and how books deemed “problematic” are being shelved in libraries. In this podcast, I will be covering graphic novelists who produce work for all ages. I also want to make it clear that I am a firm believer in the First Amendment, and a student’s right to have access to age-appropriate literature. While my graphic memoir, HEY, KIDDO, has nowhere near faced the level of book canning as GENDER QUEER, I can speak from experience that is neither fun nor a badge of honor to have your book banned and decried as inappropriate. As the wise Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop presented to us—books can serve as both mirrors and windows to readers. Meaning, when a reader recognizes their experiences within the pages of a book, they can feel empowered. And when a reader experiences a book as a window, they can have a deeper understanding of a life that is unlike their own experiences, and develop empathy. Order Maia's book through HIGH FIVE BOOKS, a great, local indie bookshop! https://bookshop.org/books/gender-queer-a-memoir/9781549304002