VONA Shows Up Big @ AWP 2024 In Kansas City!
Are you going to AWP in Kansas City this year? So are we! VONA has got a special lineup of panel discussions and author signings planned, featuring brilliant VONA alumni and faculty.
PANELS
Writing Life As A Long Game: From Emerging to the Established Writer
Thursday, February 8th, 12:10pm – 1:25 pm | Room 3501 GH, Kansas City Convention Center, Level 3
Stay focused and stay in love with what it is that you are doing.
— Vocalist & NEA Jazz Master Dianne Reeves
Writing is a lifelong journey. Often a writer’s success is measured by publication, accolades, and sales. But with all the ups and downs of the writing life—emotional, financial, physical, etc.—what motivates writers to continue sitting in the chair to do the work? And what sorts of habits are needed to create meaningful art for the long haul?
Protecting Your Soul and Sanity: Self Care Practices While Writing From The Margins
Saturday, February 10th, 3:20pm – 4:35 pm | Room 2207, Kansas City Convention Center, Street Level
Being healed is about feeling the appropriate emotions at the appropriate times and still being able to come back to yourself.
― Author, Radio Journalist & Producer Stephanie Foo
How do we create art that is both necessary and cathartic without sacrificing the artist? What can we do as writers to stay grounded when writing heavy subject matter? Writers share how they protect their mental well-being, calm their nervous system, and feel safe in their bodies to write through grief and wounds to create art.
Creative Nonfiction for Women of Color: Liberating and Celebrating Our Narratives
Saturday February 10th, 3:20pm – 4:35 pm | Room 3501 EF, Kansas City Convention Center, Level 3
won’t you celebrate with me
what i have shaped into
a kind of life?
i had no model
born in Babylon
both nonwhite and woman
what did i see to be except myself?
― Lucille Clifton
The rise of memoirs by women of color is changing the landscape of publishing. How do we keep forward momentum in finding the beauty of our complex stories without being performative for the industry? Join a diverse panel of women of color memoirists for a reading and discussion on the exciting future of nonfiction.
AUTHOR SIGNINGS
Edward Gunawan
The Way Back (Foglifter Press, 2022)
Thursday, February 8th from 2:00pm to 3:00pm
Said Shaiye
Are You Borg Now? (Really Serious Literature, 2021)
Friday, February 9th from 10:00am to 11:00am
Vincent Toro
Tertulia (Penguin Random House, 2020)
Friday, February 9th from 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Grisel Acosta
Things to Pack on the Way to Everywhere (Get Fresh Books, 2021)
Saturday, February 10th from 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Come visit us @ Booth #3017 for author signings or just to say hello!
…or, you know, to find out more about our Summer Virtual Workshops series with the fire faculty lineup! (We’re also soliciting opinions on where to find the best barbecue.) Looking forward to seeing you in Kansas City!