F209.
Wanting a Seat at the Table without Being Eaten Alive: The Elusivity of Success
Friday, March 25, 2022
1:45 pm to 3:00 pm
Writing is a solitary occupation, but once a book enters the world, it belongs to readers, critics, and marketplace alike. Capitalism’s gaze (which of course is, by default, white, male, cis-het, abled, etc.) fetishizes, tokenizes, sexualizes, and centralizes certain writers, while erasing/overlooking others. At the same time, writers need/want to publish and also to market/sell their book. How can one be an artist without pandering to or becoming complicit with the hegemonies of the gaze?
Participants
Lee Ann Roripaugh is the author of five volumes of poetry, most recently Tsunami vs. the Fukushima 50. She directs the creative writing program at the University of South Dakota, and is editor in chief of South Dakota Review.
Nana-Ama Danquah is author of the groundbreaking memoir Willow Weep for Me: A Black Woman's Journey through Depression and editor of four anthologies, including Accra Noir, which is forthcoming.
Jan Beatty's sixth book, The Body Wars, was published by University of Pittsburgh Press. She won the Red Hen Nonfiction Award for her memoir, American Bastard. Beatty worked as a waitress and abortion counselor and in maximum security prisons. She directs creative writing at Carlow University.
Allison Adelle Hedge Coke (2021 George Garrett Award for Outstanding Community Service in Literature winner)'s books include Look at This Blue, Burn, Streaming, Blood Run, and Effigies III. Distinguished professor at UC Riverside, she teaches in creative writing and the School of Medicine, directs UCR Writers Week, Lit Sandhill CraneFest, and Along the Chaparral.
