F124A.
I Published My First Book After Age Fifty: A Reading and Conversation
Friday, February 9, 2024
9:00 am to 10:15 am
The publishing world can be discouraging for middle-aged beginners or vocational pivoters—but also for those who’ve been writing diligently for a long time and still don’t have a book. This panel will showcase four writers who published their first book after age fifty, with a short reading of these debut works (poetry and fiction) followed by a discussion of the advantages/challenges of debuting as an older writer.
Participants
Anne Elliott is the author of The Artstars: Stories. Her short fiction can be found in A Public Space, STORY, Crab Orchard Review, Witness, Hobart, and other journals. Honors include the Blue Light Books Prize, the Story Foundation Prize, and a grant from the Elizabeth George foundation.
Karen Schubert holds an MFA from the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts and is the author of The Compost Reader (Accents Publishing) and five poetry chapbooks. Executive director and cofounder of literary arts nonprofit Lit Youngstown, she has taught in numerous academic and community settings.
LeTonia Jones is a social justice advocate, author, poet, copywriter, editor, writing teacher, and a former newspaper columnist. Jones published her debut book, Black Girl at the Intersection, in 2023 at age fifty-one. This book represents her belief in the power of witnessing and being witnessed.
Louise Marburg is the author of three award-winning collections of stories, The Truth About Me, No Diving Allowed, and You Have Reached Your Destination. The Truth About Me, her debut collection, was published after age fifty, and went on to win an Independent Press Award for short story collections.
Jimin Han is the author of the forthcoming novel The Apology and A Small Revolution. She teaches at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College and Pace University.
