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Writing News Roundup

June 20, 2022

We are thrilled to bring you the latest in literary events that have caught our attention. These events encompass a range of free and ticketed registration and are not affiliated with AWP. All times are in ET.

Tuesday, June 21

7:30 p.m.— Greenlight Bookstore will be hosting authors Raquel Gutiérrez and Arianne Zwartjes for a virtual reading focused on their recent releases: Brown Neon: Essays and These Dark Skies: Reckoning with Identity, Violence, and Power from Abroad, respectively. Both works explore the issues of the self, gender identity, space, and how we cope with existing in a world that is crumbling apart. The event will take place on Zoom, and registration is free. *

Wednesday, June 22

8:00 p.m.— Join author Peter Balakian for his No Sign Poetry Event in conversation with Atom Egoyan, sponsored by Elliot Bay Book Company. Balakian, recipient of many literary awards and prizes, addresses the construct, issue, and place of time with a tuned, beautiful lyricism. Filmmaker and director Atom Egoyan will be in attendance to speak further on No Sign. This event will take place online, and registration is free. *

Friday, June 24

9—10:30 a.m.— Ever wonder about what the editing process for a collection of essays entails? Look no further! Author Jennifer Cooke will discuss what to do and what not to do in her workshop Editing a Prize-winning Essay Collection: a How-to Guide. Cooke, a 2020 BACLS Edited Collection Prize Winner, will be covering how to secure a contract, the commissioning process, common issues and how to navigate them, and publication and post-publication advice. This event offers free registration and will take place online. *

Saturday, June 25

10—11 a.m.— Did you know that women contributed to horror fiction in the 1920s and 1930s? Learn more about the scary short stories and tales written by early 20th century women writers with the Weems-Botts Bibliophiles: The Women of Weird Tales group, sponsored by Historic Dumfries Virginia, Inc. Registration is free, and this event will take place online. *

3—4:30 p.m.— Best Seller Book Club will be meeting to discuss the novel French Braid by author Anne Tyler. French Braid is a stirring, warm novel that highlights the kindness and cruelties we experience daily, and how our relationships with the ones we love are paradoxically both simple and complex. Registration is free, and this event will take place online. *

Monday, June 27

12—2:00 p.m.— The Gothic Women Project will be hosting a Gothic Environments Seminar for women writers. Gothic writers often utilize space, setting, and environment to portray mood, mirror political or social turmoil, and enhance character development. From a sublime cliffside to a dank, musty dungeon to a twisted, darkened forest, environment is arguably one of the most important facets of Gothic literature. Radcliffe, Smith, Shelley, and Millet are some of the authors that will be studied in this seminar. Registration is free, and the event will take place online. *

Tuesday, June 28

7:30—8:30 p.m.— Join Random House for Well Enough: Beyond Pride, a special conversation on queerness and wellbeing with published authors Fatimah Asghar, Jedidiah Jenkins, Eric Kim, Rachel Krantz, and Rick Martinez. Registration is free, and this event will take place over Zoom. *

Wednesday, June 29

6—7:30 p.m.— The Hurston/Wright Foundation presents Rejections, Breakthroughs, & Exhales: How to Persevere (A Virtual Panel). Join this panel to hear professional writers and authors share tips on advocating for oneself as a minority writer and overcoming different adversities in the writing field. This event will take place online, and registration is free. *

7—8:30 p.m.— Cardiff BookTalk will be hosting a discussion on Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Klara and the Sun, featuring expert speakers Dr. Dominic Dean and Dr. Richard Rankin Russel. Klara and the Sun, Ishiguro’s first published novel since he received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2017, deals with complex social questions and issues raised in a dystopian setting. As with many of Ishiguro’s novels that take place in a dystopian setting, readers are often left with more questions regarding their own societal surroundings and norms by the novel’s end. This event offers free registration and will take place online. *

7:30 p.m.— Greenlight Bookstore presents Maddie Mortimer’s debut novel Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies, a contemporary fiction novel dealing with temporality, mortality, and illness. This novel follows one woman through her journey with disease, desire, loss, and individual identity. The event is free and will take place via Zoom. *

10:00 p.m.— Join ecological activists and authors Dr. Vandana Shiva, Bayo Akomolafe, and Sonali Kolhatkar for Decolonial Futures and Environmental Justice, a book celebration and discussion of our planet and our people. Dr. Vandana Shiva’s newest book Agroecology and Regenerative Agriculture: Sustainable Solutions for Hunger, Poverty, and Climate Change provides blueprints for fostering a sustainable future, and the steps we must take to get there. This event is free and will take place online. *

Thursday, June 30

6—7 p.m.— Pat Conroy Literary Center Inc. will be hosting An Evening of Mark Powell, Author of Lioness in conversation with Dana Ridenour. Powell, established author, creative writing director, and fellowship recipient, explores violence, ecoterrorism, memory, and activism throughout Lioness. Ridenour is a retired FBI agent as well as award-winning author and will be interviewing Powell as well as facilitating discussion. This event will take place via Zoom with free registration.

7—8:15 p.m.— Join Local Author Panel: Writing for the LGBTQ+ Community, a conversation between authors Bren Bataclan, Anna Burke, Federico Erebia, Jane C. Esther, and Sarah Jean Horwitz. These authors will discuss their writing, books, and impact on their local LGBTQ+ communities. Registration is free, and this event will take place via Zoom. *

Sunday, July 3

10 a.m.—12 p.m— Amanda Quinn will be hosting an online literary workshop titled Picture This: Using Art to Inspire Writing. This workshop will explore how the imagery of drawings, paintings, and other artistic mediums can inspire writing and the writing process. Participants will complete various exercises and respond to art through prompts. There will be a chance to share writing at the end of the session if desired. Registration is free, and this event will take place online. *

Tuesday, July 5

8—9:30 p.m.— Looking to share your poetry? Check out the Speaking Crow July 2022 Virtual All-Open-Mic, brought to you by Winnipeg International Writers Festival in conjunction with Winnipeg Public Libraries. Future participants can either register to attend as an audience member or register to read at the open mic. Registration is free, and this event will take place online. *

Wednesday, July 6

3—4 p.m.—Join author Paul Bradley Carr for his webinar titled How to Write a Memoir with Commercial Appeal. Carr will discuss what constitutes as a successful memoir, how to tell your own story in a commercially appealing way, what not to write about in your memoir, and memoir publishing. This event offers free registration and will take place online. *

6:00 p.m.— P&P Live! Is hosting another intriguing panel discussion on The Sky Is for Everyone. Join Virginia Trimble, coauthor of The Sky Is for Everyone, in conversation with Priyamvada Natarajan, Gabriela Gonzalez, and Rosemary Wise about the history of women in modern astronomy. Registration is free, and this event will take place online. *

Thursday, July 7

8:00 p.m.— The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame will be hosting a discussion on publishing titled “If You Want Something Done Right…” Donald G. Evans, founder and executive director of CLHOF, will be leading the discussion about the current state of the publishing industry alongside authors Charles Fiore, James Finn Garner, and  TBD (a pseudonym). All authors included have experience in the publishing industry with both large and small publishing houses. The authors will also discuss the trials and tribulations of self-publishing, and how to overcome bias in self-published work. This event is free to the public and will take place online. *


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