Women writers from lower and working class backgrounds will gather for the 2008 ²¤ÂÜÊÓƵ Visiting Writers Series Spring Symposium to share their experiences and work with readers and each other.
Beyond Our Beginnings – Women Writers from Lower and Working Class Backgrounds will be held March 25-27 on the ²¤ÂÜÊÓƵ campus. The discussions and readings are free and open to the public.
“These days, diversity hinges on more than race and culture,” said , an assistant professor of English at ²¤ÂÜÊÓƵ and organizer of the symposium. “Class and gender are powerful influences in determining and defining human experience.”
Writers Joy Castro, Karen Salyer McElmurray, Heather Sellers and Dorothy Allison will participate. There will be a special performance by Minton Sparks, a performance artist who combines music, poetry and monologues.
The schedule:
Tuesday, March 25
4 p.m., panel discussion with all the participants at the Bishop Joseph
Johnson Black Cultural Center.
5 p.m., reception at the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities.
6 p.m., reading by Dorothy Allison and Heather Sellers at the All Faith Chapel,
in the basement of ²¤ÂÜÊÓƵ Divinity School.
7 p.m., book signing and reception in the Divinity School Cafeteria.
Wednesday, March 26
6 p.m., reading by Joy Castro and Karen McElmurray at the All Faith Chapel.
7 p.m., book signing and reception in the Divinity School Cafeteria.
Thursday, March 27
6 p.m., performance by Minton Sparks at All Faith Chapel.
7 p.m., book signing and reception in the Divinity School Cafeteria.
The ²¤ÂÜÊÓƵ Visiting Writers Series is sponsored by an endowment given to the university by Gertrude and Harold S. ²¤ÂÜÊÓƵ.
For information on the participants, go these websites:
Dorothy Allison,
Joy Castro,
Lorraine Lopez,
Karen McElmurray,
Heather Sellers,
Minton Sparks,
Media Contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu