T199.

For the Ancestors: Literary Conduit of the Divine

120AB, Pennsylvania Convention Center, 100 Level
Thursday, March 24, 2022
1:45 pm to 3:00 pm

 

This panel reading explores writers Jayne Cortez, Tyehimba Jess, Wole Soyinka, Monica Hand, Sonia Sanchez, and Julia de Burgos, whose works engage African cosmology, culture, history, and spirits of the divine. Panelists discuss African Diasporic identities and representative voices who resist colonial and oppressive silence(s) to foster healing and explore local and global BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) who use the word/craft as conduits of transformative justice.



Outline & Supplemental Documents

Event Outline: For_the_Ancestors__Literary_Conduit_of_the_Divine_Outline_.pdf

Participants

Moderator:

Virginia Vasquez is a writer, multidisciplinary artist, educator, and collaborator. She taught creative writing at the City College of New York, where she received her MFA in creative writing. She is currently working on a collection of hybrid poetry, titled "El Llanto: A Puerto Rican Lament."

Natasha Herring is a VONA recipient and genrebending writer. Recent publications include PressPlayFastForward, Oye Drum, i found god in myself/i loved her, and Operating System. Her works in progress include a novel, memoir, and poetry collection. She has taught at CCNY, Laguardia.

Robert Anthony Gibbons, a native Floridian, came to New York City in 2007 in search of his muse Langston Hughes and found a vibrant contemporary poetry community. His poetry explores spirituality, ancestor worship, and community. He uses the poetic form of chant and folklore in his poems.

Starr Davis is a poet and essayist whose work has been featured in literary venues such as the Kenyon Review, the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day, and the Rumpus. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the City College of New York. She is the creative nonfiction editor for TriQuarterly.

Mwalim (MJ Peters) is a multi-award-winning storyteller/spoken word artist, playwright, singer, songwriter, music producer, and filmmaker. He is a tenured associate professor of English and Black studies at UMass Dartmouth. Land of the Black Squirrels is his first novel.

#AWP24

February 7–10, 2024
Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City Convention Center