T219.
Neurodiversity and Mental Health Difference across Genres
Thursday, March 9, 2023
3:20 pm to 4:35 pm
Join us for an exploration of how lived experience of neurodiversity and mental health difference can translate into writing. What are the possibilities and constraints different genres and forms offer? Why do writers decide to use specific genres? How do multiple identities and practices inform and shape work? We will share our responses and writing that encompasses speculative fiction, found poems, choice-based game narratives, noir hybrid memoir, and retellings of horror novels.
Participants
Stephanie Heit is a queer disabled poet, dancer, teacher, Zoeglossia Fellow, and member of Olimpias, a disability performance collective. She codirects Turtle Disco, a somatic writing space in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and is the author of Psych Murders and The Color She Gave Gravity.
Nazifa Islam is the author of the poetry collections Searching for a Pulse and Forlorn Light: Virginia Woolf Found Poems. Her poems have appeared in publications including Gulf Coast, Tupelo Quarterly, The Missouri Review, and Beloit Poetry Journal. She earned her MFA at Oregon State University.
Maya Beck is a broke blipster, lapsed Muslim, pan demigirl, socially anxious social justice bard, and speculative fiction writer pursuing an MFA at UCSD. Alum of programs at VONA, Kimbilio, and Tin House, her writing can be found at Strange Horizons, Mizna, PANK, NAT BRUT, and more.
Addie Tsai (any/all) has an MFA from Warren Wilson College and a PhD in dance from Texas Woman's University. Addie teaches creative writing at William & Mary. They are the author of Dear Twin and Unwieldy Creatures.
