F142.

Writing Resilience: A Reading by Neurodiverse Writers

116, Pennsylvania Convention Center, 100 Level
Friday, March 25, 2022
10:35 am to 11:50 am

 

This reading features writers affected by trauma, addiction, and/or mental illness. Panelists will present their stories to empower themselves and others who have these stigmatized disabilities. Panelists will come out as neurodiverse as they inspire their listeners with their literary memoirs; audience members, including the neurotypical, will be able to identify with their struggles, triumphs, and resilience. The panel will demonstrate that mentally ill does not mean mentally weak.



Outline & Supplemental Documents

Event Outline: AWP_Outline_2022_writing_resilience-a_reading_by_neurodiverse_writers.pdf

Participants

Moderator:

Jonathan Penton edits the journal Unlikely Stories and its print arm, Unlikely Books. He is the technical director for the New Orleans Poetry Festival and Rigorous and has worked in management and technical roles for a number of arts organizations. His most recent chapbook of poetry is Backstories.

Larissa Shmailo is a poet, translator, novelist, and writing coach. She is leader of the workshop Writing Resilience for writers affected by trauma, addiction, and/or mental illness. She is the original English-language translator of the avant-garde opera Victory over the Sun by Alexei Kruchenych.

Meg Tuite is the author of four story collections and five chapbooks. She won the Twin Antlers Poetry award for her poetry collection, Bare Bulbs Swinging. She is fiction editor of Bending Genres, associate editor of Narrative Magazine. She teaches writing retreats and online classes hosted by Bending Genres.

Anna Fridlis graduated from The New School with a nonfiction MFA in 2014 and has been teaching at her alma mater since. She is currently on academic leave to work on her memoir about immigration, trauma, family and identity. Anna also edits for Seventh Wave Magazine and runs an online kids writing camp.

Sandra Kleven is publisher at Cirque Journal and Press, partnering with founding editor, Michael Burwell. Cirque was created to publish the best work of writers in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Kleven is the author of four books, most recently Defiance Street: Poems and Other Writing.

#AWP24

February 7–10, 2024
Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City Convention Center