News release
PFLAG Santa Clarita’s recent membership meeting featured guest speaker Miles Toriko Burks, a local author, illustrator and creator of the webtoon turned graphic novel, “Encore!”
Held at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, the gathering brought together community members for a presentation on storytelling, identity and the importance of visibility in literature, said a news release from PFLAG: Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
Burks, a young Japanese American author and illustrator who has been drawing his whole life, discussed his journey growing up in the Santa Clarita Valley. Reflecting on his youth, Burks said he was often the only transgender or Asian kid among his peers and faced challenges with acceptance, according to the release.
Finding connection with a few fellow queer person of color in the area inspired his goal as an author: to bring greater representation to his hometown and the wider young adult audience, the release said.
Burks discussed his passion for creating characters from underrepresented identities across a variety of genres.
“Everyone deserves to see themselves as a wide range of characters doing different things,” Burks during his presentation, according to the release. “I hope to tap into that with my work to the best of my ability and make sure readers know they belong.”
“It was an incredible honor to welcome Miles back to share his journey with us,” the PFLAG Santa Clarita release said. “His story and work in ‘Encore!’ directly address the need for authentic representation, offering our local youth and families a powerful example of self-expression and resilience.”
More information on PFLAG Santa Clarita is available at www.pflagscv.org.
