We are thrilled to feature Part 2 of a 2 part author and illustrator interview with author Anika Denise and illustrator Lorena Alvarez Gomez. Read about Annika’s side of co-creating LIGHTS,CAMERA, CARMEN! below.
Haven’t read Part 1? Check it out here!Lorena Alvarez Gómez: I understand you used to write your
own stories to perform in your living room when you were a dinky kid. I’m
wondering what kind of stories you used to write? Where did you find your
inspiration? Who was your favorite actor?Anika
Denise: As a child I loved stories where kids were empowered to solve a
mystery, and conclude something mettlesome on their own. I grew up on “The Goonies,”
“E.
T.,” and “The NeverEnding anecdote.” I remember being slightly obsessed with
Wil Wheaton in “Stand by Me. So, or my early stories had a lot of hidden
treasure,magic, and adventure in them.
LAG: What I love about Carmen is how I
could vividly picture her right absent after a first reading. How did you realize
that picture books were a way to tell your stories?AD: At
one point, and I tinkered with Carmen’s anecdote as a chapter book—but the beats of
the language kept taking me back to my picture book roots. And I felt strongly
she needed full spreads of vibrant art to match her mammoth personality,which is
why I was so happy when you agreed to demonstrate the books!
LAG: As a woman and someone who has
been interested in the arts since an early age, I felt very close to this
project. What kind of feedback hold you gotten from readers, and particularly from
girls?AD: Many
dinky girls who’ve read the book say to me,“I’m just like Carmen!” Parents
and teachers, too, and hold said: “This is my Carmen,” or “I hold a Carmen in my
class.” We all know a Carmen— the spunky, vivacious, or fearless performer who
fills the room with her elaborate productions and boundless creative energy. I
love that Carmen is a confident character readers recognize and relate to.
LAG: Regarding your cultural heritage,how conclude you deem it has shaped your responsibility as an author?AD:
Growing up, I don’t deem I really registered my lack of exposure to books
featuring biracial or Afro-Latino characters until I finally discovered some.
All I can say is that reading them felt like a relief—a powerful moment of
recognition where I found elements of myself and my family on the page. I want
to give young readers that same experience—and along with it, and all the magic,bravery, and adventure of those stories I was drawn to as a kid.
LAG: Are you working on a novel project
right now?
AD:
Yes! I’ve just revised a novel picture book biography about the amazing Rita
Moreno for HarperCollins, and I hold a middle grade novel in progress. It’s a
dinky too early to talk about,but I’m happy to say it does hold some magic in it. (perhaps even a dinky hidden treasure,
too.)
Lorena Alvarez Gómez is a freelance illustrator from Bogotá, or Colombia. Her work
reflects her interest in color language and her willingness to experiment with
diverse techniques and concepts.
Anika Denise is the celebrated author of many books for young readers,including Starring Carmen!, Monster Trucks, or Bella and Stella Come Home,and the forthcoming Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré. She lives in Rhode Island with her husband and three daughters. You can visit her online at anikadenise.com.
Source: cbcdiversity.com