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David Levithan
BIO
"A story doesn't have to always reflect reality; it can create reality as well."
--David Levithan
David Levithan is a children's book editor in New York City. He lives in Hoboken, NJ.
David Levithan finds it downright baffling to write about himself, which is why he's considering it somewhat cruel and usual to have to write this brief bio. The factual approach (born '72, Brown '94, book '03) seems a bit dry, while the emotional landscape (happy childhood, happy adolescence - give or take a few poems - and happy adulthood so far) sounds horribly well-adjusted. The only addiction he's ever had was a brief spiral into the arms of diet Dr Pepper, unless you count MY SO-CALLED LIFE episodes as a drug. He is evangelical in his musical beliefs and deathly afraid that his bio will end up sounding like the final paragraph in an on-line dating ad.
Luckily, David is much happier talking about his book than he is talking about himself. BOY MEETS BOY and THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY started as stories he wrote for his friends for Valentine's Day (something he's done for the past sixteen years) and turned themselves into teen novels. When not writing during spare hours on weekends, David is a senior editor at Scholastic, and the founding editor of the PUSH imprint, which is devoted to finding new voices and new authors in teen literature. With BOY MEETS BOY, he basically set out to write the book that he dreamed of getting as an editor - a book about gay teens that doesn't conform to the old norms about gay teens in literature (i.e. it has to be about a gay uncle, or a teen who gets beaten up for being gay, or about outcasts who come out and find they're still outcasts, albeit outcasts with their outcastedness in common.) He's often asked if the book is a work of fantasy or a work of reality, and the answer is right down the middle - it's about where we're going, and where we should be.
Of BOY MEETS BOY, the reviewer at Booklist wrote: "In its blithe acceptance and celebration of human differences, this is arguably the most important gay novel since ANNIE ON MY MIND and seems to represent a near revolution in the publishing of gay-themed books for adolescents" - which pretty much blew David away when he read it. Viva la near revolution!
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INTERVIEW
 January 25, 2006
Teenreads.com contributing writer Brian Farrey interviewed David Levithan, author of BOY MEETS BOY, THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY, ARE WE THERE YET? and the newly released MARLY'S GHOST. Levithan talks about two seemingly opposing themes of his novels --- hope and isolation --- and describes the fundamental role of music in his writing process. He also discusses his membership in an important group called AS IF and underscores the improbability of publishing sequels to his previous books.
Teenreads.com: The most powerful theme in MARLY'S GHOST is loss --- how Ben chooses to deal with it and how Marly's ghost entreats him to approach it. Can you discuss how your views on loss have changed since you were a teen and how those changes might be reflected in this book?
David Levithan: I've certainly experienced more of it, and have seen other people experience it. It's always a startling, pivotal moment when loss stops being an abstraction --- whether you're a child, a teen, or an adult. Luckily for me, it wasn't until I was an adult that I really had that feeling of going through the looking glass. But those experiences certainly informed the book --- I had my own ghosts to guide me.
TRC: In your four novels, you exercise a great amount of skill as two elements --- isolation and hope --- play off each other. Do you feel one element is more powerful than the other? If so, how do you find a balance between them?
DL: There's a reason that one of the most brilliant lines ever written is Forster's simple "Only connect." I think that one word --- connection --- is so intertwined with isolation and hope. I don't think they're entirely antithetical elements, nor do I feel it's a contest between them, with one more powerful than the other. Or, rather, I think it's an entirely personal definition --- in one person, isolation and doubt can predominate, while in another, hope can be the rule rather than the exception. Part of that is due to experience, and part of that is due to brain chemistry. Hope wins out more often than despair, just as kindness wins out more often than cruelty. But sometimes it's not an easy call to make.
TRC: As founding editor for PUSH, you're on the lookout for exciting and fresh writing. When that sort of writing comes across your desk, what factors draw you in and make a story jump out at you?
DL: If it's a great voice. If it's something I feel I haven't read before. If it has meaning. If it has insight. Really, it varies from book to book.
TRC: Many writers have an "I wish I'd written that" list. If you have one, what's on yours?
DL: It's funny --- I have sentences and paragraphs that I would have loved to have written, but I never really wish I'd written a specific book. Markus Zusak's new novel, THE BOOK THIEF, rendered me completely awestruck. I hope one day to write something so powerful and historically engrossing and ambitious. Not the specific book, really. But something like it.
TRC: You're a member of Authors Support Intellectual Freedom (AS IF), a group of novelists whose mission statement declares that they "champion those who stand against censorship, especially of books for and about teens." Can you talk about your experiences with censorship and the significance of a group like AS IF?
DL: Books can't defend themselves. They need authors and readers and publishers to defend them. And oftentimes they're attacked because the people doing the attacking think they're an easy target. Our mission has to be to put a stop to that. Censorship is never about just the books --- it's about the control of thoughts and ideas, usually by people who are trying to restrict someone else's freedom. That's why we must take a stand, and band together. The wonderful thing is that whenever a book is challenged, it usually mobilizes people in its defense; that mobilization can bring on positive change, not just fight negative change.
TRC: You started taking at least one picture a day since January 2001 and have been quoted as saying that it's changed the way you see things. Can you describe the changes you've noticed and how, if at all, they've influenced your work as an editor and writer?
DL: It would take a whole essay to answer this question! I'll just say it has made me pay more attention to details --- whether obvious or random. I see things more. Which is as it should be.
TRC: What everyday items or environments provide you with stimulation for your writing? Similarly, from where have you drawn unexpected inspiration?
DL: I suppose I should give props to my computer, since it puts up with all of my writing. But really, the most inspiring part of it is the music player. I don't really have a writing process, or any writing rituals, or any talismans sitting on my desk. But one thing's for sure --- there's always music playing; in my writing, in my life, in my head. And certainly that can cause the writing to go one way or another. With MARLY'S GHOST, it was more background --- I listened to a lot of Azure Ray, because their ethereal music and lyrics fit the mood of the story. With WIDE AWAKE, my novel coming out in September, the idea itself came while listening to Green Day's "American Idiot," and was fueled by listening to Bright Eyes's "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning." (Hence, title.)
TRC: Can you describe your own writing process? Do you edit as you go? Do you agonize over each word? Do you write blindly, knowing you can "fix it later?"
DL: I just write. When it starts flagging, I stop. Then I go back and write some more. Sometimes I write very carefully and painstakingly, and other times I just roll with it. I don't really think too much about it.
TRC: What aspects of writing do you find daunting? Are there subjects you can't or won't write about?
DL: I find writing a book daunting! And there are millions of subjects I don't think I'm ready to tackle, or would do a bad job with.
TRC: The ending of BOY MEETS BOY was about as great as anyone could hope for. But as a big fan of the book I can't help but think, "What happens next for Paul?" Do you wonder this about the characters in your books, and do you plan to revisit any of the characters/situations/worlds you've created?
DL: It's very strange --- I never think about the characters after the story is over. I end the books where they end for a reason, and then that's it. They exist for that space and that time. There will never be a sequel with Paul & Noah (sorry!) because I love the ending of BOY MEETS BOY, and want them to remain there. If a reader wants to speculate on what happens next, he or she can certainly do so. But there's no official future.
TRC: What are you working on now, and when can readers expect to see it?
DL: I'm just finishing up WIDE AWAKE. It starts with the election of the first gay Jewish President of the United States, and is about two boyfriends (both in high school) who are a part of it. And that's all I'll say for now. :)
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