Most recently, Rivera brought her radical softness to the world of comic books. I swear I feel like dudes can’t even give each other a hug sometimes unless there’s like a touchdown or something.” At that, her audience laughed. “Boys that are soft get their butts kicked. “As a country, we totally bully folks who are soft,” she said. She uses softness to re-establish empathy and redefine what it means to be a hero. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)īy writing about kindness, strength, family and love, Rivera embraced this softness of language, using it to create a world where people of different backgrounds speak to each other without hate.

Gabby Rivera talks with students in the Office of Intercultural Education. There’s a lot of love, but the language is tough.” And in both of those places there’s a lot of tough language. Part of discarding this narrative, Rivera explained, is about softening the way we talk to each other. “There are moments in the story where you actually get to see Latinos being joyful with each other, having a family that is supportive, and taking the narrative that other folks have about us and discarding it.” “There aren’t a lot of queer young Latinos that folks can identify with,” she said. Rivera explained that she wanted to tell a classic American story of self-discovery for audiences who don’t always see themselves depicted in popular culture.

It tells the story of a lesbian Puerto Rican teenager who, struggling to come to terms with her identity, moves to Portland, Ore., to intern with her favorite feminist author. “There must not be any fear about showing the world what your family looks like,” said Rivera, who published her debut novel, Juliet Takes a Breath, in 2016. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)Īs an author, Rivera uses aspects of her own life and community to shape her characters so readers of all different backgrounds and identities can relate to what they see in the pages of her books. Prior to her evening talk, Gabby Rivera (left) spoke informally with students, including Topher Castaneda ’20 of Los Angeles, in the Office of Intercultural Education.

Author gabby rivera