Jenny Sadre-Orafai (Kennesaw State University)
jsad@****.com (Log-in to reveal)

In what ways does a writer’s ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender explicitly and implicitly influence, constrain, and liberate their voice? This panel will explore how creative writers construct and embody identity in their own work. Panelists for this special event will read fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction in which they navigate and translate their many selves.

Delving into identity to find one’s place in an expansive universe is natural in writing. In addition, examining and grappling with our personal and inherited histories can also aid the writer in liberation. Creative writers will share work in which they navigate and translate identity in a modern era.

This panel is of interest to both readers of creative writing and creative writers because the panelists will illustrate how their many selves are braided into their writing. They demonstrate how this long tradition of meditations on identity have evolved and how these explorations can help one see clearer who they are in regards to their personal and inherited histories. This panel welcomes creative writers from diverse backgrounds.