"I'm writing the book I needed": storytelling with poet-historian Resi Ibañez

Resi Ibañez is a poet, public historian, and community organizer in Lowell, Massachusetts. We connected on Instagram, when they sent me a DM asking if I could track down a TEEN PEOPLE article they remembered reading in the mid-2000s.

With a few keywords and a rough idea of the timing, I searched a periodicals database I use to find guests for this podcast. I found three possible articles for Resi, and it turns out that one of these three is probably the article they remembered reading as a teenager!

The article is an "it-happened-to-me" kind of story; a staple of the teen magazine genre. It featured a teenager who had come out to her friends and family. For a few reasons (which we explore in this interview), the article resonated with Resi.

Resi is now working on a book-length project about LGBTQ icons of their young adult years. We spoke about this project and how the TEEN PEOPLE article influenced them, and also about their mother's powerful legacy.

Podcast notes:

Find me online at www.annasoper.ca and on Twitter and Instagram at TeenPeoplePod.

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Sounds and music:

The Sound of dial-up Internet by wtermini on Pixabay
Spirit Blossom by RomanBelov on Pixabay

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Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.