Gabby Rivera
{{short description|American writer and storyteller}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gabby Rivera
| alt = Gabby Rivera
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| nationality = American
| alma_mater = Goucher College
| occupation = Writer
| known_for = Juliet Takes a Breath (2016)
| movement =
}}
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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2017/03/08/marvel-hired-gabby-rivera-a-queer-latina-writer-for-its-queer-latina-superhero-that-matters/|title=Marvel hired Gabby Rivera, a queer Latina writer, for its queer Latina superhero. That matters.|last=Betancourt|first=David|date=8 March 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=22 April 2018|issn=0190-8286}}{{cite web |title=America Chavez gets a power boost in this America finale exclusive |url=https://www.avclub.com/america-chavez-gets-a-power-boost-in-this-america-final-1823243300 |first=Oliver |last=Sava |date=22 February 2018 |publisher=AV Club}} Her work often addresses issues of identity and representation for people of color and the queer community, within American popular culture.{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gabby-rivera-queer-latinx-superheroine_n_5b05da17e4b07c4ea1049253|title=Gabby Rivera On The Importance Of Being (And Creating) A Queer Latinx Superheroine|last=Moreno|first=Carolina|date=2018-06-07|website=HuffPost|language=en|access-date=2019-11-07}} Rivera is Puerto Rican and from the Bronx.
Early life and education
Gabby Rivera was born to Martha and Charles Rivera.{{Cite web|url=https://remezcla.com/lists/culture/queer-latinx-writers-gabby-rivera-mark-oshiro-adam-silvera/|title=Gabby Rivera, Mark Oshiro & Adam Silvera On Navigating Publishing Industry While Queer & Latinx|date=2019-07-10|website=Remezcla|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-07|quote=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.}} Rivera grew up in the Bronx borough of New York City, she is of Puerto Rican descent and grew up in a religious household of Pentecostal evangelicalism.{{Cite web|url=https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/author-gabby-rivera-says-book-could-be-bridge-lgbtq-teens-and-latino-parents|title=Author Gabby Rivera Says Book 'Could Be A Bridge'; For LGBTQ Teens And Latino Parents|last=Petrin|first=Kae M.|date=2018-09-24|website=St. Louis Public Radio|language=en|access-date=2019-11-07}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/gabby-rivera-creating-stories-sweet-baby-queers-everywhere-n1055111|title=Gabby Rivera is creating stories for 'sweet baby queers' everywhere|last=Gandhi|first=Lakshmi|date=2019-09-17|website=NBC News|language=en|access-date=2019-11-07|quote=The widely praised Puerto Rican and gay young author hopes other kids and teens who were once like her can see their experiences reflected.}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/11/21/781827181/portrait-of-gabby-rivera|title=Portrait Of: Gabby Rivera|website=NPR.org|language=en|type=Audio and Article|access-date=2020-03-12}} An early love of reading and writing came from her mother, a kindergarten teacher.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out-pride30/pride30-writer-gabby-rivera-bringing-lgbtq-superheroes-life-n763576|title=#Pride30: Writer Gabby Rivera Is Bringing LGBTQ Superheroes to Life|date=2017-06-26|website=NBC News|language=en-US}} Rivera attended an all-girls private school in White Plains, New York. Rivera attended Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, graduating in 2004.{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.goucher.edu/magazine/qa-gabby-rivera-04/|title=Q&A: Gabby Rivera '04|date=2016-06-20|website=Goucher Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-01}}
Career
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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/11/21/781827181/portrait-of-gabby-rivera|title=Portrait Of: Gabby Rivera|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=2020-03-12}} Rivera is an editor at Autostraddle, an online magazine for, about, and written by LGBTQIA+ women, non-binary people and sometimes trans men.{{Cite web|url=https://remezcla.com/features/culture/gabby-rivera-interview-juliet-takes-a-breath-novel/|title=Novelist Gabby Rivera on Creating a YA Novel With a Queer, Teenage Latina Protagonist|date=2016-04-06|website=Remezcla|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-07}} Rivera is a mentor through her work as the youth programs manager at GLSEN.
= ''Juliet Takes a Breath'' (2016) =
{{Further|Juliet Takes a Breath}}
Juliet Takes a Breath (2016) is a semi-autobiographical, fictional coming-of-age novel about a gay Latina woman from the Bronx dealing with her identity.{{cite web|url=http://remezcla.com/features/culture/gabby-rivera-interview-juliet-takes-a-breath-novel/|title=Novelist Gabby Rivera on Creating a Young Adult Novel With a Queer, Teenage Latina Protagonist|last1=Portillo|first1=Nayeli|website=Remezcla|access-date=19 April 2018}} In this story, Juliet Milagros Palante moves to Portland, Oregon for the summer to intern under Harlowe Brisbane, a white feminist writer and author of, "Raging Flower: Empowering Your Pussy by Empowering Your Mind".{{Cite journal|last=Martínez-Reyes|first=Consuelo|date=2018-07-01|title=Lesbian 'Growth' and Epistemic Disobedience: Placing Gabby Rivera's Juliet Takes a Breath within Puerto Rican Literature and Queer Theory|url=https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1P4-2117119291/lesbian-growth-and-epistemic-disobedience-placing|journal=Centro Journal|volume=30|issue=2|pages=324}}
= ''America'' (2017-2018) =
{{Further|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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/america-chavez-marvel-queer-latina-comic|title=Marvel Now Has a Queer Latina Superhero: America Chavez|last=Garcia|first=Patricia|date=2017-04-06|website=Vogue|publisher=Condé Nast|language=en|access-date=2019-11-07}} From 2017 to 2018, Gabby Rivera authored the America series, until it was cancelled by Marvel publishing.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/26/books/comics-diversity-america-chavez.html|title=Adventures in Comics and the Real World|last=Gustines|first=George Gene|date=2017-03-26|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-11-07|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.polygon.com/comics/2017/12/22/16810138/marvel-exec-insists-wave-of-cancellations-not-motivated-by-books-diversity|title=Marvel exec insists wave of cancellations not motivated by books' diversity|last=Polo|first=Susana|date=2017-12-22|website=Polygon|language=en|access-date=2019-11-07}}
The comic book series was nominated for Outstanding Comic Book at the 29th GLAAD Media Awards.{{multiref2|{{Cite web |title=And the #glaadawards nominees are... |url=https://www.glaad.org/mediaawards/nominees |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124101121/https://www.glaad.org/mediaawards/nominees |archive-date=2018-01-24 |accessdate=2018-04-13 |publisher=GLAAD}}|{{cite news |last1=Chuba |first1=Kirsten |date=January 19, 2018 |title=GLAAD Media Awards Nominees: Full List |url=https://variety.com/2018/film/awards/glaad-media-awards-nominees-2018-list-1202668763/ |accessdate=January 19, 2018 |work=Variety}}
}} Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor sent Rivera a letter, praising her work on the series and America Chavez.{{multiref2|{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=Jacob |date=March 16, 2018 |title=Gabby Rivera Shares Justice Sotomayor's Fan Letter for Marvel's America |url=https://www.cbr.com/justice-sotomayors-marvel-america-letter/ |access-date=2024-01-28 |website=Comic Book Resources |language=en}}|{{Cite web |last=Terror |first=Jude |date=March 17, 2018 |title=Supreme Court Rules: Gabby Rivera Made Magic with Marvel's America |url=https://bleedingcool.com/comics/supreme-court-rules-gabby-rivera-made-magic-with-marvels-america/ |access-date=2024-01-28 |website=Bleeding Cool |language=en}}
}}
= B.B. Free series =
B.B. Free is a comic book series that centers around a 15 year old navigating a post-climate change world with a plague, where mother nature kills greed.{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Tracy |date=2019-08-19 |title=Gabby Rivera's new comic book series is a 'love letter to queer kids everywhere' |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2019-08-19/bb-free-announcement-boom-studios |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} B.B. Free's first issue was illustrated by Royal A. Dunlap.{{Cite web |last=Seven |first=John |date=2019-11-08 |title=Indie View: 'B.B. Free #1' is a burst of post-apocalyptic sunshine |url=https://www.comicsbeat.com/indie-view-b-b-free-1-is-a-burst-of-post-apocalyptic-sunshine/ |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=The Beat |language=en-US}} The series was based on a short story written by Rivera titled IMBALANCE.
Personal life
Publications
- {{Cite book|title=Juliet Takes a Breath|last=Rivera|first=Gabby|publisher=Riverdale Avenue Books|year=2016|isbn=978-1626012516|edition=1|location=Bronx, New York}}
- {{Cite book|title=America Vol. 1: The Life and Times of America Chavez|last1=Rivera|first1=Gabby|last2=Quinones|first2=Joe|publisher=Marvel|year=2017|isbn=978-1302908812|location=New York City, New York}}
- {{Cite book|title=America Vol. 2: Fast and Fuertona|last1=Rivera|first1=Gabby|last2=Quinones|first2=Joe|last3=Wu|first3=Annie|publisher=Marvel|year=2018|isbn=978-1302908829|location=New York City, New York}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Wikiquote}}
- [https://gabbyrivera.com/ Personal website]
- [https://www.ted.com/speakers/gabby_rivera Gabby Rivera's speakers profile] on Ted.com
- [https://www.autostraddle.com/tag/gabby-rivera/ Gabby Rivera's contributors profile] on Autostraddle
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Gabby}}
Category:Writers from the Bronx
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Goucher College alumni
Category:Hispanic and Latino American novelists
Category:Hispanic and Latino American poets
Category:Hispanic and Latino American short story writers
Category:Hispanic and Latino American autobiographers
Category:American autobiographers
Category:American women autobiographers
Category:21st-century American women writers
Category:American magazine editors
Category:American women magazine editors
Category:American women short story writers
Category:21st-century American short story writers
Category:21st-century American poets
Category:Marvel Comics writers
Category:American lesbian writers
Category:LGBTQ people from New York (state)
Category:LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people