P&P Live! and DCPL - Andrea L Rogers & Jeff Edwards | Man Made Monsters

Politics and Prose is delighted to partner with the DC Public Library and the DC Public Library Foundation to discuss the new YA novel written by Andrea L. Rogers and Illustrated by Jeff Edwards.

About the Book:
Supernatural terrors are pitted against the real-life horrors faced by indigenous people during the colonization of America and beyond in this fresh take on classic monster stories from a debut author. The book is grounded in the author’s Cherokee heritage and draws on ancestral stories passed through her family. The tales link together like branches in a tree, featuring viewpoints from members of one Cherokee family beginning in 1839 when forced from their tribal lands in Georgia through the 20th century, even sneaking a look into the near future. Each story could easily stand on its own, but the familial connections between them posit deeper thinking about the horror of colonialism and cultural destruction. Alongside each story, Cherokee artist and language technologist Jeff Edwards delivers haunting illustrations that incorporate Cherokee syllabary.

About the Creators:
Andrea L Rogers is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She grew up in Tulsa and graduated with an MFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. Her stories have appeared in several literary journals as well as You Too? 25 Voices Share Their #METoo Stories, Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids, and in the anthology Allies. In 2020, she released the elementary fiction novel Mary and the Trail of Tears. Her novel Man Made Monsters recently won the 2023 Walter Dean Myers, Teen Category award. A picture book called When We Gather is forthcoming.

Jeff Edwards is a Cherokee graphic artist who has worked for the Cherokee Nation as a language technologist for over a decade to help advance the preservation and use of the Cherokee syllabary broadly. He received his BA in Design and Visual Communications at Northeastern State University and studied at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence Kansas. Edwards creates Cherokee themed artwork with syllabary graphics as design and cultural elements.

About the Moderator:
Alexandra (Allie) Genia is a Children's Librarian at DCPL.

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