F156.
Creative Activism in Words & Action: Writers & Activists at the United Nations
Friday, March 25, 2022
10:35 am to 11:35 am
Writers and artists have always inspired and influenced the world through literature and art. Many have taken the initiative to impact political and cultural shifts. However, their engagement in civic actions is more needed than ever before. The panel will explore how writers, poets, and artists can join hands to safeguard global interests and find solutions to concerns such as wars, human rights, hunger, illiteracy, climate change, and more by working with the United Nations Associations.
Participants
Kalpna Singh-Chitnis is the author of four poetry books and the editor of Life and Legends. Her work has appeared in notable journals and her poetry has been translated into many languages. Her awards include the Naji Naaman Literary Award, Bihar Rajbhasha Award, and Rajiv Gandhi Global Excellence Award.
Christopher Merrill has published many books of poetry, translations, and nonfiction, most recently, Boat, Necessities, The Tree of the Doves: Ceremony, Expedition, War, and Self-Portrait with Dogwood. He directs the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa.
Dunya Mikhail is the author of The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women ofّ Iraq, In Her Feminine Sign, The Iraq Nights, Diary of A Wave Outside the Sea, and The War Works Hard. She was awarded the United Nations Human Rights Award for Freedom of Writing in 2001.
Megha Sood is Pushcart-nominated, award-winning poet, editor, and literary activist based in New Jersey. She is associate editor at MookyChick and Life and Legends and a literary partner of the project “Life in Quarantine'' with Stanford University. She is a panelist at the Women's National Book Association and member of the United Nations Association, US chapter.
Rachel Bowen Pittman is the executive director of the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA). She guides the UNA-USA’s strategic work, cultivates partnerships with UN and government officials, oversees membership expansion, and spearheads advocacy initiatives to help US-UN relations.
