The Annual Event is a month long celebration of all things UKYA, highlighting books by British and Irish authors (resident and national) and asking their views on topic affecting the community. All views are the author’s own.
About the Authors:
Wren James is the Carnegie-longlisted British author of many Young Adult novels as ‘Lauren James’. They are a RLF Royal Fellow and the story consultant on Netflix’s Heartstopper (Seasons 2 and 3). Wren is the founder of the Climate Fiction Writers League. They work as a consultant on climate storytelling for museums, production companies, major brands and publishers, with a focus on optimism and hope.
Ann Sei Lin is a writer and librarian with a love for all things fantasy. She has worked in Chiba, Japan and now lives in London. When not writing, she can be found reading, playing video games, or trying to make origami rabbits.
Sue H. Cunningham writes young adult fiction with humour and a hint of magic. She won the Write Mentor Children’s Novel Award 2020 and was an SCBWI Undiscovered Voices winner in 2022. She has also been shortlisted/longlisted for other awards including Northern Writers’ 2022, Bath Children’s Novel Award 2020, Sussex Amazing Book Awards 2024 and Buckinghamshire Book Awards 2024.
Sue lives in Manchester with her husband, two sons and a super clingy cockapoo. When she’s not writing, or tripping over electric guitar cables and decapitated squeaky toys, she works for the NHS.
About their books:
Title: LAST SEEN ONLINE
Author: Wren James
Pitch: Last Seen Online is a murder mystery set in Hollywood, in the toxic fandom surrounding a cult supernatural TV show. A cold case murder of one of the actors by his co-star is nearly forgotten, until a blog is uncovered with new evidence…
Find on Goodreads. Find on Bookshop.org (affiliate link).
Title: REBEL DAWN
Author: Ann Sei Lin
Pitch: The third and final book in a pacy, lyrical and vivid fantasy adventure set in a world of flying ships, sky cities and powerful paper spirits. Kurara and her friends have found the key to releasing shikigami from their bonds and granting them eternal freedom – if they can unlock its power. The answer lies in Kurara’s homeplace, deep in the mountains of Mikoshima. But can the crew reach it before the imperial forces catch up with them, or their own internal battles break them apart for ever?
Find on Goodreads. Find on Bookshop.org (affiliate link).
Title: CLOUD NINE
Author: Sue H. Cunningham
Pitch: Meet sixteen-year-old Evangeline Buckle, trainee celestial guide from Cloud Nine. It’s her job to watch over people during their final hours on earth and ensure they don’t screw up their chances of a decent Afterlife. Evvy isn’t averse to bending the rules, and she always gets results – until she makes the fatal mistake of falling for a living boy.
Find on Goodreads. Find on Bookshop.org (affiliate link).
In your opinion, how has social media helped foster the UKYA community?
Wren James: Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads have been a huge part of my publishing journey from the very beginning in 2013, when I was first querying agents. From the early UKYA chat run by Lucy Powrie, to the very first YALC, Northern YA Lit Fest and YA Shot, none of them would have existed without social media. It’s a huge part of how I got established, made a tightknit community of fellow authors, and met my readers for the first time.
Ann Sei Lin: Despite all its faults, I think social media has been fantastic at fostering connection within the UKYA community. We’re a wide-spread bunch, but social media has made it easier than ever to foster a community, share information, and spread the joy of reading no matter where we are.
Sue H. Cunningham: Social media has the advantage of making everything more accessible – both for authors and readers! The online writing community for children’s writers is generally so welcoming and is a great way to connect with other writers and publishing professionals – importantly, it gives us the opportunity to boost and support one another. It also allows authors to directly engage with their audience in an informal, user-friendly and immediate way which suits the short attention span of a typical teen – there must be a reason why the average TikTok is seven seconds long!
In which ways do you think we can responsibly use social media to introduce YA titles to teenagers? How can we go beyond social media to reach them, given conversations in several countries around re-thinking current legislation on such platforms for minors?
Wren James: I think using social media as a way to promote literary events aimed at teenagers to parents, librarians, teachers and bloggers is a great way to get young people excited about YA fiction in local spaces like libraries and bookshops. Social media is great at raising awareness of these events and hyping them up.
Ann Sei Lin: I think supporting school librarians and school libraries is a great way to reach young readers offline. With school budgets getting tighter, it’s more important than ever to support your school library.
Sue H. Cunningham: I think it’s just as important to engage booksellers, librarians and teachers as it is potential readers, especially if younger readers have restricted access to social media. These professionals are not only potential cheerleaders but, as adults who engage directly with teens, they can introduce them to age and content appropriate titles in a responsible way.
How do you think the YA market is going to change thanks to emerging technologies like AI?
Wren James: No comment (ahahah). Oof.
Ann Sei Lin: My hope is that won’t change the YA market much. (Though that is probably unrealistic, wishful thinking on my part!) Aside from something authors may wish to write about and tackle as subject matter, I hope generative AI remains far away from the YA market. As for more traditional AI, I think we’re already living in a world where algorithms control a lot of what reaches us. This will probably get a lot more targeted as AI improves. I’m afraid I can only guess what the future holds!
Sue H. Cunningham: There is a potential for the market to be flooded with rapidly produced AI assisted content but I remain hopeful that the average reader will agree with this statement I recently spotted on social media: ‘if you can’t be bothered writing it, why should I be bothered reading it?’
What steps would you like publishing needs to take in response to the rise of AI?
Wren James: We need stricter rules on the use of literature to train AI. Regardless of whether it kills the AI industry, consent is vital.
Ann Sei Lin: I don’t have a perfect answer, but I would like to see greater copyright protections for authors. In addition, I think works generated by AI should not be copyrightable and should come with a watermark or disclaimer that generative AI was used in the creation of such works. This would allow readers to discern for themselves whether they want to consume such works.
Sue H. Cunningham: I think the publishing industry needs to stand firmly with authors to protect their creatives’ intellectual property – to do so, they need proper legal support and government backing to enforce existing copyright laws and draft appropriate legislation to address potential future concerns.
Thank you all! For more interviews, check here and don’t forget to check instagram (here) for book recommendations from these authors and more!
#UKYASpotlight 
Leave a comment