T112.
When Women Break Bad: Writing Unladylike Rage
Thursday, March 24, 2022
9:00 am to 10:15 am
There is such a profound cultural discomfort around women's anger, especially women's rage, that when it is depicted, it is generally either sublimated or fetishized. Those who aren't are often coded as masculine, mentally ill, or victimized (or all three). While many male protagonists are more antihero than hero, "bad" women risk the deadly label of "unlikable." Five exceptional authors representing fiction, nonfiction, and poetry discuss the pitfalls and joys of being unladylike on the page.
Participants
Leigh Camacho Rourks is the author of the St. Lawrence Book Award winner, Moon Trees and Other Orphans. An assistant professor of English and humanities at Beacon College, she is also the recipient of the Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Award and the Robert Watson Literary Review Prize.
Rebecca Hazelwood is an essayist/memoirist who has been published widely in literary magazines. She currently teaches at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. She holds an MFA in creative writing and a PhD in English/creative writing. She is currently finishing a memoir.
Sharon Harrigan is the author of the novel Half and the memoir Playing with Dynamite. She has published over fifty short pieces in the New York Times, Virginia Quarterly Review, Literary Hub, and elsewhere. She teaches creative writing at WriterHouse, a literary center in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Nikki Dolson is the author of Love and Other Criminal Behavior and All Things Violent. Her short fiction has been published in TriQuarterly, Thuglit, Bartleby Snopes, Day One, and other journals. Her work has been selected for The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021.
Alison Pelegrin is the author of four poetry collections, most recently Our Lady of Bewilderment and Waterlines. She is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Louisiana Division of the Arts and is Writer in Residence at Southeastern Louisiana University.
