T237.
Ethics of Writing the Other: #ownvoices in Literary Writing
Thursday, February 8, 2024
3:20 pm to 4:35 pm
A common problem writers grapple with is the ethics of writing the Other: characters, cultures, voices not of their own personal subject positioning. In the era of #ownvoices where writers are claiming their subject positionings and desiring to experience authentic voices on the page, this panel will address the strategies by BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ writers across various genres who have explored answers to the question: How do we ethically write the Other?
Participants
Steven Dunn is the author of the novels Potted Meat and Water & Power from Tarpaulin Sky Press. Some of his work can be found in Granta magazine, Blink Ink Print, and Best of Small Fictions 2018. He is currently an MFA candidate at Goddard College.
Katie Jean Shinkle's books include Tannery Bay (with Steven Dunn); None of This is an Invitation (with Jessica Alexander); Ruination, and others. She is an assistant professor in the MFA in creative writing, editing, and publishing program at Sam Houston State University.
Suzi Q. Smith is an award-winning artist, organizer, and educator who lives in Denver, Colorado. The author of poetry collections Poems for the End of the World, A Gospel of Bones, and Thirteen Descansos, Suzi is also a singer-songwriter, playwright, and multidisciplinary creative.
Joanna Ruocco is the author of several books, including, most recently, The Week, Field Glass, written with Joanna Howard, and Dan. She also writes romance novels as Joanna Lowell. She is an associate professor at Wake Forest University. With Brian Conn, she edited the fiction journal Birkensnake.
Jubi Arriola-Headley (he/him) is a Blacqueer poet and the author of original kink (Sibling Rivalry Press), winner of the 2021 Housatonic Book Award; his second collection, Bound, will be published by Persea Books in 2024. Find Jubi at www.justjubi.com.
