Queering and Cripping Your World: Writing Gender Diverse and Neurodiverse Characters in Genre Fiction with Agent Emmy Nordstrom Higdon

Queering and Cripping Your World: Writing Gender & Neurodiverse Characters in Genre Fiction 

with Literary Agent Emmy Nordstrom Higdon

Whether you are writing science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, romance, or other genre fiction, imagined worlds hold boundless potential for creativity and inclusivity in storytelling. In our current political moment, and in a public-facing industry that is dominated by cisgender, heterosexual, abled, white voices, authors, are faced with important considerations when it comes to questions of representation on the printed page. As a non-binary, trans, queer, autistic publishing professional with chronic illness and psychiatric disabilities, I see authors from both mainstream and traditionally marginalized backgrounds struggle with these questions every day. In this panel, I will share some of the approaches and resources that I and the authors on my list use to build rich, believable worlds that feature diverse, culturally respectful representation.

Cost: $10 AWG, SCBWI, or RWA Members; $15 Non-Members

A limited number of manuscript reviews up to five pages each will be offered as an optional add-on to your registration. Manuscript excerpt submissions will be due after the webinar to give authors a chance to revise their submission with their learnings. See registration for details!

Emmy Nordstrom Higdon (they/them) is a literary agent at Westwood Creative Artists, based in Tkaronto (Toronto, Ontario), which is unceded territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Mississaugas of the Credit. They are also a book blogger at Books Beyond Binaries and a member of the planning team for the Canadian Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD). They are a trans non-binary colonizer originally from Newfoundland. When they’re not reading, they keep busy with research projects, spending time with their partner and adopted dogs and cats, embroidery, slice of life anime, vegan cooking, and video games.