KELLY VINCENT: UGLIEST
This episode of Big Blend Radio features award-winning author Kelly Vincent who re-imagines their teenage years in their empowering series “The Art of Being Ugly,” a compelling story of a teen grappling with their gender identity. The anticipated finale, “Ugliest,” is a necessary and impactful commentary on the struggles LGBTQ+ teens face amidst a hyper-conservative landscape threatening the rights of queer people. Watch on YouTube or download the episode on Podbean.
Life, academics, and activism. Facing hate and bigotry, can this agender teen make a difference in LGBTQ+ rights?
Determined to excel, seventeen-year-old Nic Summers strives to find time to survive physics, build confidence, and enter a competitive art mentorship at the local university in Oklahoma City. However, Nic’s stress skyrockets when a protest video results in them and a trans friend being forced by the school to move to the girls’ dorm. Burning with a strong sense of justice, the normally shy teenager summons the courage to speak out against damaging state legislation. But when the vision goes viral, they’re shocked when the authorities hand down an ultimatum: stop or be expelled. Can Nic dig deep and prevail against institutional bullies ready to erase their identity?
Sharing the plight of those too often silenced, author Kelly Vincent opens the door to understanding and empathy. Through the eyes of a big-hearted main character, Vincent leads the way toward accepting and appreciating each other’s differences.
KELLY VINCENT (they/ them) wrangles data weekdays and spends the rest of their time playing with words. They grew up in Oklahoma but have moved around quite a bit, with Glasgow, Scotland being their favorite stop. They now live near Seattle with several cats who help them write their stories by strategically walking across the keyboard, with their first novel, “Finding Frances,” a fine example of this technique.
Their four subsequent books, “Ugly,” “Always the New Girl,” “Binding Off,” and “Uglier,” were released in 2022 and 2023. “Finding Frances” and “Always the New Girl” won several indie awards and “Ugly” was selected as the Honor book for SCBWI’s Spark Award in the Books for Older Readers category for 2022.
Kelly has a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Oklahoma City University’s Red Earth program. Learn more about Kelly at https://kellyvincent.net/
