T116.
Social Justice on the Page: How Writing and Activism Feed Each Other
Thursday, February 8, 2024
9:00 am to 10:15 am
As Kansas City and other locales organize fiercely against incessant attacks, this panel of regionally diverse, mostly LGBTQI/BIPOC authors share how activism and lived experiences inform their writing on topics such as incarceration, medical racism, intersex identity, mental health, immigration, queerness, and intergenerational trauma. We explore the craft of writing stories that contribute to deep, durable narrative change, restructuring the way people feel, think, and respond to the world.
Participants
Jen Soriano (she/they) is a Filipinx writer who has received Artist Trust, Jack Jones, Hugo House, and Vermont Studio Center fellowships. Her debut essay collection Nervous, named one of the best nonfiction debuts of 2023 by Poets & Writers, is now available from Amistad/HarperCollins.
Tijanna O. Eaton is the author of the jail crime memoir BOLT Cutters and has been published in Honey Literary, Noyo Review, and Panorama Journal. She is board chair of Five Keys Schools and Programs and is the recipient of the Unicorn Authors Club inaugural Alumni Award.
Hans Lindahl is a writer/activist bringing intersex community perspectives to medical education. As the former communications director of interACT, Hans worked to pass a bill against infant genital surgeries. Hans's debut YA novel tackles intersex abuse and the variety of forms queer love can take.
Karina Muñiz-Pagán is a queer Xicana memoir and fiction writer. She cofounded the writers' collective, Las Malcriadas, to center Latina immigrant storytelling. She is a community-based creative writing coach and teacher, and the strategic partnerships director for the Unicorn Authors Club.
Raychelle Heath is the director of curriculum and coaching for the Unicorn Authors Club. She is also a poet and storyteller working to tell the multifaceted stories of black women. Her podcast Black Women in Wellness spotlights black wellness women and discusses health and wellness disparities.
