We were so excited to get this shout out from Gayle on the Go. Thanks KTLA for helping us spread the word!
2015 Festival Re-cap: PHOTOS!
We have so many incredible photos from the Mixed Remixed Festival this year! We hope that you enjoy scrolling through these wonderful galleries.
You can find photos from the full day of fun here.
If you have photos you’d like to share, please email them to info(at)mixedremixed.org.-Heidi Durrow, Festival Founder
Sparkers
I met Eleanor Glewwe when I was running a writing workshop at Mixed Remixed. When we bumped into each other again at the evening reception she told me about her debut novel, Sparkers, a middle-grade (10-14 years old) fantasy, published by Viking. Sparkers, a 2015 winner of the Chicago-based Friends of American Writers’ Young People’s Literature Award, tells the story of Marah Levi, who is
“a sparker, a member of the oppressed lower class in a society run by magicians.
But when a mysterious illness begins taking the lives of sparkers and magicians alike, she joins forces with a wealthy magician boy to find a cure and save those she loves most.”
Clare Ramsaran (CR): Eleanor, you told me that you are of Chinese, German, and Swedish ancestry and identify as multiracial and hapa. Are there themes in Sparkers that relate to the mixed experience?
Eleanor Glewwe (EG): Sparkers isn’t specifically about the mixed experience, but it is set in a city rigidly divided along class lines, where class is determined by whether you can do magic or not. The main character, Marah, is a sparker, meaning she doesn’t have magic, but through unusual circumstances, she befriends a magician boy. As she becomes closer to his family, she does have to confront what it means that she moves between these two worlds when other sparkers don’t.
An adult character, Channah, who in complicated ways is both a magician and a sparker (I might be revealing too much here, but oh, well!). Because society is so divided, this is very difficult and even dangerous for her. I think Channah might be the most interesting character, and I’ve always wanted to write more about her.
The companion to Sparkers, due to be published in 2016, relates more closely to the mixed experience. In it, some teenagers begin to question whether families really have to be all one thing or all the other, or whether they could be, well, mixed.
CR: What made you choose to write a novel aimed at younger readers ?
EG: I started writing the novel that would become Sparkers when I was fourteen. That’s pretty much why Marah is fourteen!
CR: What’s been the most surprising response you’ve had from readesd?
EG: In reading online reviews of Sparkers (authors are cautioned not to read these, but I can’t help it), I’ve been most surprised by how often people draw parallels between the book and real-life injustices. Readers have made comparisons to the Soviet Union, South Africa, Rwanda, and even Ferguson, MO. It’s been quite humbling. That last comparison, in particular, made me realize that there is police violence in Sparkers—not that I’d forgotten, but I saw it in a new light. I didn’t set out to write a social justice-themed novel when I was fourteen; it just took shape that way, probably thanks to the influence of my activist mother. But since the book came out, readers keep talking about the social justice aspect, so I’ve tried to own it more.
CR: When is your next novel coming out ?
EG: My next book is slated for Fall 2016. It’s a companion to Sparkers, set five years later. It has a completely new protagonist, but several characters from Sparkers play important roles in the story.
Thanks Eleanor, it was great to talk to you and good luck with your next novel!
Mixed Remixed Festival 2015 Re-cap: Writing Mixed and Queer
Fifteen enthusiastic writers showed up for the “Putting the ‘M’ in LGBT” workshop at the Mixed Remixed Festival on June 13th and we had a great time talking and writing ‘mixed and queer’.
I created a timeline of writers, who were mixed and queer, for the workshop – not an easy task! It was hard to find people who were on record as identifying as both mixed and queer before the 1980s. We talked about why this might be.
In the early part of the 2oth century the outlook for mixed or queer people was not always easy – attitudes in society and in some cases the laws of the land were discriminatory. This context was reflected in the literature of the time where the narrative arc of the “tragic mulatto” often paralleled that of gay characters, both generally ending in tragically for the protagonist.
However by the 1960’s, laws prohibiting ‘interracial marriage’ were being challenged in the US State of Virginia, the US was passing its Civil Rights Act while in the UK, ‘homosexual sex’ was decriminalised. These shifts were reflected in the world of literature and by the 1980s there was a blossoming of mixed/queer writing.
Writers on the timeline included:
Jackie Kay [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiP684Ss3FI[/youtube]Stacyann Chin [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc9MUvyAAkI[/youtube]
Carl Phillips[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YdeDWeUf9g[/youtube]
15 Lucky Festival Attendees Will Get Greg Pak’s New Book Hot Off the Press!
We’re so excited that thanks to the generosity of Greg Pak we’re giving away 15 copies of The Princess Who Saved Herself. The children’s book based on a song by Jonathan Coulton, and follows the story of the multiracial Gloria Cheng Epstein Takahara de la Garza Champion. You will be among the very first to get the book! Come early and snag a copy in the giveaway!-Heidi Durrow, Festival Founder
Costco Connection Talks About Mixed Race Artists: Mixed Remixed Festival
We are excited that the Costco Connection has written a story about mixed race artists and the Mixed Remixed Festival. The reporter Hana Medina really captured what the Festival is all about!–Heidi Durrow, Festival Founder
You can also download a copy of the article here.
Presenter Spotlight 2015: Adoptive Parent Siana-Lea Valencia Gildard
Siana-Lea Valencia Gildard
Transracial Adoption: Parents and Adoptees Talk
June 13, 2015 4pm-4:50pm
Siana is a writer, fundraiser and mixed up Californian. Born and raised in Southern California with a Mexican-American Mom and Anglo East Coast Dad, Siana knows the difference between Menudo and New England Clam Chowder, and likes them both. After writing the bilingual children’s musical The Adventures of Mr. Coconut / Las Aventuras de Senor Coco (performed at the Ford Amphitheatre and VVC Performing Arts Center) Siana and her husband Edgar figured it was time to have kids. Thus began the Lord of the Rings adventure of adopting two children from Mexico, who they brought home in October of 2014. If Siana thought she was confused being a “White Mexican”, being the mother of two “Real Mexicans” only adds to it all. Hilarity ensues…
MIXED HERITAGE BONE MARROW REGISTRY DRIVE AT MIXED REMIXED FESTIVAL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Heidi Durrow
Phone: 213-293-7077
Email: heidi@mixedremixed.org
Website: www.mixedremixed.org
MIXED HERITAGE BONE MARROW REGISTRY DRIVE
AT MIXED REMIXED FESTIVAL
(Los Angeles, CA) The Mixed Remixed Festival will register bone marrow donors with the help of Mixed Marrow on Saturday, June 13, at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles (100 N. Central Street).
Mixed Marrow strives to inform, educate, and register more minority/multiracial donors so that people of all races and colors can have an equal chance at finding a life-saving bone marrow transplant. Mixed Marrow, founded in 2009, recruits donors for Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches, Be The Match, and the National Marrow Donor Program. Mixed Marrow is currently working on a documentary film, Mixed Match, to help bring awareness.
Mixed Marrow founder, Athena Mari Asklipiadis, shared the importance of the cause, stating, “Patient-donor matches rely heavily on inherited genes so similar ancestry (race) is usually the case which is why it is important all communities register as donors.”
About 70% of patients in need of a transplant do not have a matching donor in their family. They depend on the Be The Match Registry® to find a match. Siblings with the same two parents only hold a 1 in 4 chance of matching. Because ethnicity is a determining factor in finding a match, patients will most likely find a donor within their racial and ethnic community. Yet, of the 6 million people on the registry, less than 7% are of Asian/Pacific Islander descent, less than 6 % are of Hispanic descent, and only 7.6 % are African Americans. Of the 11 million donors on the registry, only 4% are mixed race (all possible combinations).
Prospective donors between the ages of 18-44 can register in only 10 minutes at the Festival by filling out a registration form and having their cheek swabbed for a sample. All donors will be placed on the National and Worldwide registry so that every patient can have a fair chance to look for a match.
The Mixed Remixed Festival, which takes place June 13, celebrates stories of the Mixed experience and stories of interracial and intercultural relationships, blended families, and anyone who identifies with having mixed roots.
A free public event, the Mixed Remixed Festival brings together film and book lovers, innovative and emerging artists, and multiracial families and individuals for workshops, readings, film screenings, a special series of family events Saturday afternoon, and a dynamic live performance of music, comedy, and spoken word Saturday evening. Registration is strongly encouraged.
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Mixed Race Artists Unite for Family Cultural Festival
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Heidi Durrow
Phone: 213-293-7077
Email: heidi@mixedremixed.org
Website: www.mixedremixed.org
Twitter: @mixedremixed
Instagram: mixedremixed
#mixedremixed
MIXED RACE ARTISTS UNITE FOR FAMILY CULTURAL FESTIVAL
(Los Angeles, CA) The Mixed Remixed Festival will take place at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles (100 N. Central Avenue), June 13, 2015.
The Festival celebrates stories of multiracial Americans and families, the fastest growing demographic in the U.S. A free public event, the Festival brings together film and book lovers, innovative and emerging artists, and multiracial and multicultural families and individuals for workshops, readings, performances, and film screenings.
The Mixed Remixed Festival attracted close to 700 people from across the country last year and featured dozens of writers, scholars and performers including Comedy Central’s hit comedic duo Key & Peele.
The Festival, a non-profit arts organization — is produced by The New York Times best-selling writer, Heidi Durrow, and talented team of volunteers.
“It’s exciting to see mixed people and families in mainstream media and to connect with each other on-line,” says Durrow who calls herself an Afro-Viking because she is African-American and Danish. “But the Festival is the only nationwide cultural arts event where we get to meet each other and network.”
The event is free and open to the public. Registration is strongly encouraged. The complete Festival schedule can be found online at www.mixedremixed.org.
Festival Highlights Include:
- The Festival hosts the largest West Coast Loving Day Celebration, Saturday, June 13, 2015, at 6:30 p.m. with the annual Storyteller’s Prize presentation and live show. The Festival will present the Storyteller’s Prize to The Daily Show’s Al Madrigal and New York Times best-selling writer Jamie Ford (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and Songs of Willow Frost) as part of a dynamic live show featuring comedians, spoken-word poets and soulful songstress Donn T, Questlove’s sister, who will perform songs from her highly anticipated album Flight of the Donn T.
- Families can enjoy interactive craft activities as well storytelling events as part of the Target Free Family Saturday.
- The Festival will present two notable feature films including the award-winning feature documentary You Have His Eyes (dir. Christopher Wilson) about a transracial adoptees’s search for his biological parents. French Dirty (dirs. Wade Allain-Marcus and Jesse Allain-Marcus, award-winning executive producer Stephanie Allain). The Festival is also pleased to present Mei Mei, the newest short film by two-time Peabody Award winner Dmae Roberts.
- The Festival includes author readings by Mat Johnson, the author of the breakout hit Loving Day, about a mixed-race utopian society; Jamie Ford, the international bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Marie Mockett, author of Where the Dead Pause and the Japanese Say Goodbye; celebrated writer and Fresno’s Poet Laureate James Tyner, and many others. Skylight Books is the Festival’s official bookseller.
- More than a dozen esteemed panelists will speak on diverse topics related to the Mixed experience, including: educator and community leader Marcia Dawkins; producer of the Tony Award-nominated play The Scottsboro Boys David Greer who is also a playwright; and award-winning journalist Erika Hayasaki.
Festival sponsors include: Japanese American National Museum, Zerflin.com, The Black List, Cruise Invictus, Algonquin Books, The Center for the Mixed Voice, Mixed Chicks, Miss Jessie’s and Multicultural Kids, and Poets & Writers,Inc. through a grant it has received from the James Irvine Foundation.
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Lucky 100: Miss Jessie’s Multicultural Curls for Festival Attendees
We’re so excited to share Miss Jessie’s Multicultural Curls with our first 100 Festival attendees. Celebrate your curls with the help of the Miss Jessie’s experts! Don’t miss out. Register NOW!
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