F246.
Too Small For the Patriarchy: Getting Girlhood Stories Past the Gatekeepers
Friday, February 9, 2024
3:20 pm to 4:35 pm
Who has the right to grow up in American literature? On this panel, authors discuss the joys, challenges, and importance of writing and publishing diverse narratives about American girlhoods. Getting these stories past the gatekeepers, who often misunderstand and reject them for being “too quiet” or “too small,” requires courage and persistence. When our own inner critics tell us such stories don’t truly matter, how do we push beyond our doubt and continue writing on a path to publication?
Participants
Chaitali Sen is the author of a novel The Pathless Sky (Europa Editions) and the story collection A New Race of Men from Heaven (Sarabande Books), winner of the 2021 Mary McCarthy Prize for Short Fiction.
Natalia Sylvester is the Pura Belpré- and Schneider Family-honor winning author of the young adult novel Breathe and Count Back from Ten, and the award-winning author of the young adult novel Running and the adult novels Everyone Knows You Go Home and Chasing the Sun. Twitter/IG: @NataliaSylv.
Rose Smith’s writing can be found in the Missouri Review, Five Points, and Narrative Magazine. She was the winner of the Missouri Review's Editors’ Prize and a finalist for Narrative's 2018 Story Contest. Her films have screened at Sundance, SXSW, and MoMA. She received her MFA from Warren Wilson.
Magdalena Bartkowska is a freelance editor and writer whose work has appeared in Barnstorm Journal, Apple Valley Review, and The Sun. Her essay titled "What They Don't Tell You at Your Baby Shower" shortlisted in the 2022 Sonora Review Rage Essay Contest.
Toni Ann Johnson won the 2021 Flannery O'Connor Award for her linked story collection Light Skin Gone to Waste. She is a 2015 NAACP Image Award nominee for her debut novel Remedy For a Broken Angel and a two-time winner of the Humanitas Prize for her screenplays Ruby Bridges and Crown Heights.
