Join me for two fascinating panels at the annual Historical Novel Society Conference!

Friday, June 21, 2019

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

MUST WE ALWAYS SING THE BLUES? Missing Chapters from the African American Experience. [Denny S. Bryce, Piper Huguley, Dolen Perkins-Valdez; Moderator: Sherri L. Smith]

After the TV remake of Roots, rapper Snoop Dogg took to social media, saying, “They just want to keep showing the abuse we took hundreds and hundreds of years ago… When y’all gonna make a movie about the success we’re having?” The overriding narrative in African American historical fiction has always been slavery—but there are many more stories to be told! Join moderator Sherri L. Smith (Flygirl), book reviewer Denny S. Bryce (NPR, Washington Independent Review of Books), and two of the most exciting African American voices in historical fiction today—Piper Huguley (Migrations of the Heart series), and Dolen Perkins-Valdez (Balm)—as we discuss the vibrant missing chapters in Black history. (Room: Woodrow Wilson D)

1:15 PM - 2:15 PM

BEYOND ROSIE THE RIVETER: How Female Heroines Are Revolutionizing World War II Fiction. [Kerri Maher, Jennifer Robson, Sherri L. Smith, Kip Wilson; moderator: Greer Macallister]

World War II once brought to mind soldiers, the Holocaust, and women in factories. Important as those stories are, a new generation of novels set during WWII with women in the leading roles are shedding new light on the lives of a diverse array of people living though this rich and complicated time—in America and abroad. This panel brings together YA and adult novelists, one novel-in-verse, and both real-life and fictional heroines: German resistance fighters (Wilson’s White Rose), Americans in London (Robson’s Goodnight from London and Maher’s Kennedy Debutante), African-American pilots, and Japanese-Americans (Smith’s Flygirl and forthcoming Pearl). (Room: Woodrow Wilson C)