Run Away With Me
An Interview with Brian Selznick
In this week’s Q&A, #1 New York Times bestselling author/illustrator and Caldecott medal winner Brian Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabret) takes us behind the scenes of his first young adult novel, Run Away With Me — about two boys finding each other and falling in love over one summer in Rome.
“Reflecting a full spectrum of time and love, Run Away With Me, will run away with you ” —Gregory Maguire, bestselling author of Wicked
How do you like to introduce Run Away With Me to readers?
I usually say it’s a Queer teen love story set in the 1980’s with three other Queer love stories (the 1940’s, 1900 and the 17th century) that weave together. It’s about how Queer people have always found ways to be happy throughout history, even in the worst of circumstances. Oh, and there are a lot of drawings!
I read that living in Rome during the pandemic was part of the inspiration for this book. How did that experience shape the story?
At the height of the pandemic, my husband won something called The Rome Prize given by the American Academy of Rome, and we moved there for nine months, starting in January of 2020. There were no tourists, and most Romans weren’t going out, so it was like we had the entire city to ourselves, it was strange and haunting, and very beautiful, as well as sad and scary. I was really struck by the ways in which history is made apparent throughout Rome, because you can see layers of time almost everywhere you look. The excavations were particularly moving, and I began to imagine two boys falling in love in the midst of the city. I knew that the discovery of a Queer past would also give them strength and guidance as they got to know each other.
I have such fond memories of sharing copies of The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck with kids when I was a school librarian — and watching them turn through the pages, mesmerized. How would you describe your signature style?
The Invention of Hugo Cabret was originally supposed to be a 98-page novella with one drawing per chapter, but as I worked on the story I found myself thinking about silent movies and how the camera tells its story, which I then connected in my mind to picture book sequences, especially the Wild Rumpus in Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. I thought, if a 6-page wordless spread in a 32-page book can be that exciting, what would happen if there were 40-page picture sequences in a 600-page book? I became very interested in how pictures and words can work together to illuminate something about the story they’re telling, which is something Sendak himself used to talk about when discussing the creation of picture books. In a way, I suppose I’m making 600-page picture books, but they’re also sort of like graphic novels, though they’re different. Basically, I have found all these years later that it’s still easier to describe what my books aren’t than describing what they are. They’re not really picture books, or graphic novels, or comics. They’re experiments in narrative, I suppose.
During a time when LGBTQ representation in books is often under attack, have you had any memorable interactions with young readers about how Run Away With Me has mattered to them?
When I was growing up in the 70’s I thought I was the only gay person in the world. There was almost no representation in the media that I was aware of, and I felt very alone. Growing up, coming out, and discovering I am part of a huge community that extends back through all of time gave me a real sense of strength and support, and now I hope that’s what Run Away With Me will offer for young readers.
Are there other YA stories that have stolen your heart lately you’d want to recommend?
I just finished Kazimir Lee’s wonderful graphic novel Low Orbit about a Queer fifteen year old Malaysian-American girl who is obsessed with a sci-fi book series, and much of it takes place in an abandoned mall, which I particularly love. What-the-Dickens by Gregory Maguire is about storytelling at the end of the world, in which a society of fairies may hold the keys to survival, and I’ve been loving the work of Laura Redniss whose illustrated non-fiction isn’t specifically for YA audiences, but I think they’d love her books. Radioactive is about Marie and Pierre Curie, and Oak Flats is about the potential destruction of holy land in Arizona by a copper mine, and it is both galactic and microscopic in its storytelling and detail.
Brian Selznick’s books have sold millions of copies, garnered countless awards worldwide, and have been translated into more than 35 languages. He broke open the novel form with his genre-breaking thematic trilogy, beginning with the Caldecott Medal-winning #1 New York Times bestseller, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, adapted into Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning movie Hugo. He followed that with the #1 New York Times bestseller, Wonderstruck, adapted by celebrated filmmaker Todd Haynes, with a screenplay by Selznick, and then the New York Times bestseller, The Marvels. In praising his body of work, The Washington Post said, “Brian Selznick proves to be that rare creator capable of following one masterpiece with another.” The Associated Press called Selznick “one of publishing’s most imaginative storytellers.” Selznick’s most recent novels, Big Tree (inspired by an idea from Steven Spielberg) and Kaleidoscope, were both national bestsellers and were named New York Times Notable Children’s Books. He also illustrated the 20th anniversary edition covers of the #1 globally bestselling Harry Potter series. Selznick has appeared on Good Morning America, NBC’s Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, and has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Guardian, Le Monde, la Repubblica, among many other renowned publications worldwide. He and his husband Dr. David Serlin divide their time between Brooklyn, New York and La Jolla, California. Learn more: https://brianselznick.com/