As novelists and attendees filed into the Redwood City Library, the 2025 Young Adult Novelist Convention utilized workshops and other activities to turn strangers to friends. This event also brought attention to the diverse array of authors that write unique, compelling stories, and put attending novelists in the spotlight.
YANovCon 2025 took place on Feb. 8, and was free to attend. Its audience consisted of a variety of age groups, ranging from teenagers to seniors — all united in their love for literature.
Attendees were invited to gather in various places in the library for panels and book signings, all taking place across the first and second floor. In other unused rooms, people were reading, checking out books, or just roaming around.
From the people listening to novelists speaking about writing books, to the ones enjoying a Saturday afternoon reading a book, each person here had their own unique interest in literature. Audrey Anderson, a Bay Area college student, said YANovCon 2025 has changed the way she looks at the world.
“I think it [literature] has expanded my perspective on everything,” Anderson said. “Just reading from different people with different views on life and different experiences has enriched my own life. I think the literature I’ve consumed has shaped who I am as a person. If I hadn’t read the books that I have, I would be a different person.”
Award-winning author Carolina Ixta enjoys reading just as much as Anderson and the library’s enthusiastic crowd. More than just reading, though, Ixta spends her time broadening her scope of art.
“I read a lot, and I consume a lot of art,” Ixta said. “Every day, I listen to one album as soon as I wake up. I’m constantly listening to music, watching movies, and reading books to try to keep myself sharp.”
Ixta says her ability to appreciate art translates to her skill in producing it, which motivates her to consume an abundance of diverse artworks on a daily basis.
“Art and writing is something where you are what you eat,” Ixta said. “If you’re eating a lot of really good art, you’ll likely make a lot of good art. I think literature has made me have a different lens in life, and I look at the world differently when I’m reading, in a more poetic way.”
On top of its strong focus on highlighting literature, YANovCon2025 also touched on diversity in the Bay Area. Many authors presented a range of books that focused on topics ranging from LGBTQ+ rights to racial issues, like author Dale Walls, who spoke about her book “The Queer Girl is Going to be Okay”, a story about a young queer girl and the obstacles she has to overcome to reach her goals.
One such author, Lala Thomas, expressed her disappointment in her lack of exposure to books with young black girls. According to Thomas, the first one that she read completely shifted her view on literature.
“The first time I ever read a book with a character that looks like me, I was around 16 years old,” Thomas said. “That changed the literary world for me entirely because I didn’t even know that there were many black authors, and that there were books with black characters- especially young black girls. Being exposed to books that were representative of me is what really changed the way I look at literature.”
YANovCon2025 showcased a diverse range of stories and authors, offering attendees insightful discussions, engaging activities and valuable learning experiences. For anyone who loves literature, this was a great opportunity to get a view into the professional aspect of story writing. If you have the chance to attend the Young Adult Novelist Convention next year, give it a shot and see what the world of literature has to offer you.
