AWP Monster Panels

 I am so missing AWP this year! I am planning for next year's in KC, but thought I would take note of what looks like amazing panels!

T225.

Reclaiming the Asian Femme Body in Speculative Fiction

( Elaine Hsieh Chou, K-Ming Chang, Isabel Yap, Silvia Park, Ploi Pirapokin)

For centuries, the Asian femme body has been a fraught site of violence, colonization and objectification. How does speculative fiction allow us to reclaim and rewrite harmful and false narratives we never consented to? How can bodily transformation (into monsters, robots, mythological creatures and more) desexualize, reimagine and liberate the Asian femme body? The panelists will explore how writing speculative elements in their work creates space for subversive and transformative narratives.

 

Mutant, Monster, Misfit, Myself: Writing the Disabled / Chronically Ill Body, Sponsored by AWP

(Sandra Beasley, Paul Guest, Rosebud Ben-Oni, Jenn Givhan, Jeannine Hall Gailey)

Five disabled and/or chronically ill writers of poetry and memoir talk about how their body influences the way they write, their subject matter, even how they impact their genres and efforts towards publicity. How do we claim / activate our disability or illness? What do we disclose? We’ll discuss how our work has changed over time, how our relationships with disability have changed, how we accommodate or resist the gaze of abled readers, and how disability / illness manifests in genre, line, metaphor. This event will be livestreamed. ASL interpretation and live captioning will be provided.

 

Writing the Monster

(Rebecca Lehmann, Oliver de la Paz, aureleo sans, A. Rafael Johnson, K.C. Mead-Brewer)

Five authors discuss writing monsters across multiple genres, considering ways monsters can be used to explore queerness and transness, disability, domestic abuse, cultural traditions, patriarchy, colonialism, white supremacy, and other concerns. Looking at monstrous figures like La Llorona, the minotaur, witches, ghouls, internet demons, and sea hags, panelists will discuss ways monsters can subvert narrative expectations, reveal socio-historical concerns and moral panics, and ensorcell readers.