Gabby Rivera

Gabby Rivera is an American writer and storyteller. She is the author of the 2016 young adult novel Juliet Takes a Breath, and wrote the 2017–2018 Marvel comic book America, about superhero America Chavez.[1][2] Her work often addresses issues of identity and representation for people of color and the queer community, within American popular culture.[3]

Gabby Rivera
NationalityAmerican
Alma materGoucher College
OccupationWriter

Early life and education

Gabby Rivera was born to Martha and Charles Rivera.[4] Rivera grew up in the Bronx neighborhood of New York City, she is of Puerto Rican descent and grew up in a religious household of Pentecostal evangelicalism.[5][6][7] An early love of reading and writing came from her mother, a kindergarten teacher.[8] Rivera attended an all-girls private school in White Plains, New York.[7] Gabby Rivera attended Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, graduating in 2004.[9]

Career

Gabby Rivera started her career and love for literature at the age of 17 by attending a local cafe for poetry nights. Starting her career in performance poetry, Rivera grew inspired by stories written by black, brown and queer authors.[10] Rivera is an editor at Autostraddle, an online magazine for, about, and written by LGBTQIA+ women, non-binary people and sometimes trans men .[11] Rivera has also written poems and short stories. She is an activist and youth mentor through her work as the youth programs manager at GLSEN.

Juliet Takes a Breath (2016)

Juliet Takes a Breath (2016) is a semi-autobiographical, fictional coming-of-age novel about a gay Latina woman dealing with her identity.[12] In this story, Juliet Milagros Palante recently graduated from a college in Upstate New York and moves to Portland, Oregon to intern under Harlowe Brisbane, a white feminist writer and author of, "Raging Flower: Empowering Your Pussy by Empowering Your Mind".[13] Juliet realizes there is a difference in theoretical definition between Harlowe's white feminism and her own, because she cannot fully identify because she is someone of a different race, culture, and sexual orientation.[13] Juliet is learning to trust her own power and seeks to fill the gap between the feminist community and her Latino culture, in the creation of her own identity.[14] This narrative story addresses important issues of representation and multigenerational cultural differences.[14][3]

Miss America (America Chavez) series
See also: Miss America (America Chavez)

Miss America is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and Marvel's first Latin-American LGBTQ character to star in an ongoing series.[15] From March 2017 to April 2018, Gabby Rivera authored the series, until it was cancelled by Marvel publishing.[16][17]

B.B. Free series

B.B. Free is a comic book series based on a short story written by Rivera titled IMBALANCE, the story centers around a 15 year old navigating a post-climate change world with a plague, where mother nature kills greed.[7]

Personal life

Rivera is openly gay.[12][18] Rivera has suffered from depression and has faced death threats from a harassment movement called Comicsgate, aimed at the Marvel Comics attempts to diversify their comic books and characters.[7]

Publications
  • Rivera, Gabby (2016). Juliet Takes a Breath (1 ed.). Bronx, New York: Riverdale Avenue Books. ISBN 978-1626012516.
  • Rivera, Gabby; Quinones, Joe (2017). America Vol. 1: The Life and Times of America Chavez. New York City, New York: Marvel. ISBN 978-1302908812.
  • Rivera, Gabby; Quinones, Joe; Wu, Annie (2018). America Vol. 2: Fast and Fuertona. New York City, New York: Marvel. ISBN 978-1302908829.

References
  1. Betancourt, David (8 March 2017). "Marvel hired Gabby Rivera, a queer Latina writer, for its queer Latina superhero. That matters". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  2. Sava, Oliver (22 February 2018). "America Chavez gets a power boost in this America finale exclusive". AV Club.
  3. Moreno, Carolina (2018-06-07). "Gabby Rivera On The Importance Of Being (And Creating) A Queer Latinx Superheroine". HuffPost. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  4. "Gabby Rivera, Mark Oshiro & Adam Silvera On Navigating Publishing Industry While Queer & Latinx". Remezcla. 2019-07-10. Retrieved 2019-11-07. It’s using my words and stories to explore being a Puerto Rican dyke from the Bronx and the daughter of Martha and Charles Rivera, and not try to speak on any other experience but my own.
  5. Petrin, Kae M. (2018-09-24). "Author Gabby Rivera Says Book 'Could Be A Bridge'; For LGBTQ Teens And Latino Parents". St. Louis Public Radio. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  6. Gandhi, Lakshmi (2019-09-17). "Gabby Rivera is creating stories for 'sweet baby queers' everywhere". NBC News. Retrieved 2019-11-07. The widely praised Puerto Rican and gay young author hopes other kids and teens who were once like her can see their experiences reflected.
  7. "Portrait Of: Gabby Rivera". NPR.org (Audio and Article). Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  8. "#Pride30: Writer Gabby Rivera Is Bringing LGBTQ Superheroes to Life". Hispanic Network Magazine. 2017-06-26. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  9. "Q&A: Gabby Rivera '04". Goucher Magazine. 2016-06-20. Retrieved 2019-07-01.
  10. "Portrait Of: Gabby Rivera". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  11. "Novelist Gabby Rivera on Creating a YA Novel With a Queer, Teenage Latina Protagonist". Remezcla. 2016-04-06. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  12. Portillo, Nayeli. "Novelist Gabby Rivera on Creating a Young Adult Novel With a Queer, Teenage Latina Protagonist". Remezcla. Remezcla. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  13. Martínez-Reyes, Consuelo (2018-07-01). "Lesbian 'Growth' and Epistemic Disobedience: Placing Gabby Rivera's Juliet Takes a Breath within Puerto Rican Literature and Queer Theory". Centro Journal. 30 (2): 324.
  14. Gore, Ariel (2016-02-18). "The Power of Seeing Ourselves in Literature". Psychology Today. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  15. Garcia, Patricia (2017-04-06). "Marvel Now Has a Queer Latina Superhero: America Chavez". Vogue. Condé Nast. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  16. Gustines, George Gene (2017-03-26). "Adventures in Comics and the Real World". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  17. Polo, Susana (2017-12-22). "Marvel exec insists wave of cancellations not motivated by books' diversity". Polygon. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  18. "All Things Considered: Life, Love, Coming Out And Culture Shock In 'Juliet Takes A Breath'". NPR.org. 2019-09-18. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
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