R133. How Many Readers is Enough?

Willow Room, Sheraton Seattle, 2nd Floor
Thursday, February 27, 2014
10:30 am to 11:45 am

 

Using this provocative question as a starting point, panelists at various stages in their writing lives will examine the idea of the writer’s career. In a world that tends to value completed, marketable products—the success of which is measured in terms of sales figures, Amazon rankings, and the awarding of prestigious prizes, etc.—how do we view our own ongoing creative work? How do we maintain our affiliation to the less tangible incentives for writing, such as connecting with readers?


Participants

Moderator:

Valerie Vogrin is the author of a novel, Shebang and was awarded a Pushcart Prize in 2010. She is an associate professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where she is prose editor of Sou’wester.

Kelcey Parker is the author of For Sale By Owner, a story collection, and Liliane's Balcony, a novella set at Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. Her current project is a collage biography of the Czech fairy tale writer Bozena Nemcova. She teaches at Indiana University South Bend.

Allison Adelle Hedge Coke is author of the poetry collections Dog Road Woman, recipient of the American Book Award, and Off-Season City Pipe. Her other books include Rock Ghost, Willow, Deer, a memoir; and Blood Run, a verse-play. She is the editor of Sing: Poetry from the Indigenous Americas, Effigies, and Effigies II.

Chad Simpson is the author of the story collection Tell Everyone I Said Hi. His work has appeared in McSweeney's Quarterly, Esquire, The Sun, American Short Fiction, and New Stories from the Midwest 2012. He teaches at Knox College.

Kellie Wells is the author of a collection of short fiction, Compression Scars, winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award, and two novels, Skin and Fat Girl, Terrestrial. She teaches in the MFA programs at the University of Alabama and Pacific University.

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February 7–10, 2024
Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City Convention Center