The Rise of Romance with Lawrence Librarian Polli Kenn

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By Kelcie McKenney

The increase in popularity of the Romance genre has had us at Catcall kicking up our feet and giggling. What’s better than watching new readers find out that romance is totally for feminists too? We’re clearly big fans (I mean, check out our smut guide or our whole Catcall Reads section!) and we’ve been salivating at the rise of #BookTok and the influx of romance-books-turned-movies/shows. And now things are gettin’ local.

This week, Romance writer and TikTok’s #BookTok sweetheart Katee Robert is in town on the Cruel Seduction Tour, hosted by the Lawrence Public Library and the Raven Book Store—which has a romance-themed shelf and IG at @ravenaboutromance. Katee is celebrating the release of her newest book, Cruel Seduction, in the Dark Olympus series. It’s a collection of Greek Mythology retellings that are spicy AF (highly recommend!). On the tour, she’s bringing friends Ana Huang, author of Twisted Love, and Sierra Simone, author of Priest and a KC local. The three are lining up a panel about all things romance, plus chattin’ with readers and singing books. 

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Hanna Lee explores complexities of life as a Korean adoptee through writing

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By Sophia-Joelle McDowell

As a transracial Korean adoptee living in the midwest, Hanna Lee started writing during the rise of the pandemic when AAPI hate was high and they had a lot to process.

Lee believes writing can help people process what they’re going through, and it offers a healthy and structured way of going about this. 

The books they have written to process their own experiences have resonated with many readers. Lee spoke with us about their past and the pages they earned in the process. 

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‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’ is a Time Capsule of Adolescent Expression 

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By Hanna Ellington

Glittering, angsty, sparkling, and effeminate, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is an ode to girlhood and the unrestrained emotion that comes with growing out of it.

I sit here coming to you in my apartment in a big city reminiscing on who I was when Speak Now came out for the first time. Dark curly hair, ambition beyond the confines of Kansas, and an affinity for the unbridled twang of Taylor Swift. At 11, I had already paid my dues as a Swiftie with my copy of Fearless and her debut album tucked in the growing CD collection shared with my mom.

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Filmmaker Sav Rodger’s Chasing Chasing Amy dives into the significance of LGBTQ+ representation in media

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By Emily Laptad
Photos by Travis Young

When 12-year-old Sav Rodgers discovered the 1998 film Chasing Amy, it quickly became his life raft while growing up in Johnson County, Kansas. Not only did the film include LGBTQ+ representation young he desperately needed, but the queer characters were good, intelligent, funny, and out—something Rodgers had very little exposure to.

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Why we need more of the female gaze in Hollywood

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By Ayanna Smith
Art by Maddy Best

If you type “male gaze” into the search bar on Twitter or TikTok, you’ll be met with thousands of hot takes on the issue. From videos questioning whether a new TV show really gives depth to the female protagonist to explanations of why a beloved 90s film is actually super misogynistic, they all call for more media that showcases the female gaze. Let’s dive into what that means.

You know the male gaze when you see it. It’s when a female character’s purpose is to pleasure the male protagonist. We barely know anything about her or her objectives, she’s just there to help the protagonist achieve his goals. Take most of the James Bond movies as an easy example of this: his female co-stars are often objectified and seen as passive helpers. 

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