Teenagers of all walks of life need literary characters they can identify with, a Gillieston Heights-based author says.
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Alyssa Brugman has been short-listed for the Western Australian Premiers Book Awards in the Writing for Young Adults category, for her latest release Alex As Well.
The story is about an intersex teenager who has been raised as a male but decides to become a female and the conflict that ensues with family.
An intersex person is someone born with genital, chromosomal or hormone variation from the characteristics that would otherwise make that person distinctly male or female, according to the World Health Organisation.
Ms Brugman said she penned the book while living in Cessnock as part of a PhD in writing that she completed through the University of Canberra.
It was also short-listed for the Adelaide Literature Award earlier this year.
The author has recently returned from promoting the book, her 12th novel since 2002, in the United Kingdom.
“I have had a mixed response from the LGBTI [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual and intersexed] community,” she said.
“The character is also gay, but I am not. Some people think that it is not my story to tell.
“But I have had a number of transgender people tell me very passionately that they have never come across a character that was experiencing the dysphoria of being intersex and who is just a normal teenager.
“There is a community of kids out there who never see themselves in characters in books and that can make them feel even more alone.”
Winners of the WA Premiers Book Awards will be announced in Perth in October.
