Recently, The Nerd Daily had the chance to catch up with Becky Albertalli, bestselling author of amazing queer novels such as the iconic Simon vs. the Homo-Sapiens Agenda, The Upside of Unrequited, Leah on the Offbeat, multiple co-written novels and the upcoming Imogen, Obviously. We got to ask Becky all our burning questions about title clues, the changing tides of friendships, and so much more!
Hi Becky! Thank you so much for chatting with us again! How are you doing? How was 2023 been treating you so far?
It’s been a little bit of a blur, to be honest! I can’t believe we’re already several months in.
Lightning round: Tell us one thing you can’t live without, one book you will never stop recommending, and one song that will always make you want to scream the lyrics at the top of your lungs!
- Lately, I seem to need a lot of fresh air! I keep my windows open as often as humanly possible.
- I’ll never stop recommending Nothing Burns As Bright As You by Ashley Woodfolk.
- Taylor Swift’s “Karma.”
What five words best describe Imogen, Obviously?
Even more oblivious than Simon.
Now tell us more about Imogen, Obviously! What can readers expect?
Imogen, Obviously is about Imogen Scott, a “straight” high school senior and devoted queer ally. When we meet her, she’s just arrived for a spring break visit with her best friend Lili—a college freshman who recently came out as pansexual. Imogen’s worried she won’t fit in with Lili’s cool new queer friends—what if her bumbling hetero energy makes someone uncomfortable?
Except… it just so happens that none of Lili’s friends know that Imogen’s a bumbling hetero in the first place. Lili might have accidently told them she and Imogen used to date. Ever the faithful ally, Imogen’s happy to go along with Lili’s lie. In a way, it’s kind of cool to not be seen as the Token Straight Friend. But when Lili’s college BFF Tessa enters the mix, Imogen realizes her fake queer backstory might not be so fake after all.
You mentioned on social media that Imogen, Obviously is an incredibly personal story for you. What were your feelings while writing about something so close to your heart? Did it feel cathartic or even empowering to write down Imogen’s story?
It was incredibly cathartic to write—though it’s equally terrifying to release it into the world. All my books are personal, but this one’s personal in ways that are unnervingly public. So much of Imogen’s internal monologue mirrors my own questioning process. And even though Imogen isn’t a public figure, she’s internalized the same discourse that kept me tied in knots. For me—and for Imogen—even the idea of questioning felt like a step out of bounds. Even when I started to flag certain feelings as attraction, I wondered whether I’d just appropriated these feelings from Real Queer People. It’s completely illogical in retrospect, but it was such a central piece of the puzzle for me. And of course, there’s still a part of me that worries these nebulous Real Queer People will read Imogen’s story and conclude that I’m an imposter after all.
Imogen, Obviously is also a very interesting title as it can be interpreted in many ways. How did you land on the title and what does it mean to you?
The title came after the book had already been written. There are several places in the text where Imogen plays with the word obviously—it’s an idea that’s always felt really relevant to this story. Imogen initially views herself as “obviously” straight—which seems to track with how she’s perceived by others. But when she’s finally able to line up the many, many hints to the contrary, her queerness starts to seem really obvious too,
Imogen considers herself an amazing ally and is told time and again that she is just that. An ally. What was it like to explore Imogen’s story of self-discovery and all the (good and sometimes difficult) nuances of the queer community?
I love this question, because I would have answered it really differently a few years ago. I remember feeling like one of my most important responsibilities as an ally was to be completely transparent about my own lack of queerness. Queer readers deserved clear answers about my labels, my identity, and my positionality. I’d absorbed this messaging from online queer discourse, and I took it to heart. It was clear to me that Imogen would have followed the exact same thought process, and she would have been just as boxed in by it as I was.
To be clear, I think expectations around allyship are important to discuss—but I’m wary of any framework that draws a hard line between queer and nonqueer. Overly rigid boundaries often harm and exclude fellow queer people. We have to account for the possibility that people we see as outsiders might not actually be outsiders. Ultimately, I find the concept of allyship to be most meaningful when we embrace it more broadly. Being an ally doesn’t have to signal lack of queerness—allyship can be a commitment to solidarity with other queer identities.
Imogen, Obviously reads like a love letter to figuring out your identity later in life. What do you hope readers will take away from Imogen’s journey?
I’d like readers to know it’s okay to ask questions, even if you never fully pin down the answers. Queerness can mean different things to different people, and we have to make space for that.
I loved the friendship dynamics in Imogen, Obviously (with ehem one exception). Do Imogen and Lili remain best friends throughout college?
Oh, definitely—these two are going to be best friends way beyond college. Honestly, I think their future children will be best friends.
What three songs would need to be on the soundtrack playlist of Imogen’s life?
- “Silk Chiffon” by MUNA, featuring Phoebe Bridgers
- “Changing My Major” from the Fun Home musical
- “Sofia” by Clairo
Last but not least, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
I’d definitely recommend checking out Chasing Pacquaio by Rod Pulido and Ander and Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa (both of these books release the same day as Imogen, and they’re both brilliant).
