LITERARY CONFERENCE AT LMU FOCUSES ON “WRITING LOS ANGELES”

What: LAy of the LAnd: Writing Los Angeles
When: March 25, 2009 1:30-8:00 PM
Where: Loyola Marymount University

How do contemporary L.A. writers render the city they call home? What new directions are there in L.A. writing—is there a “school” of L.A. writing? What role should L.A. writers play during these crisis times in our city and country? Can L.A. authors give the city back the sense of history and identity that “development” so often erases?

Two of LMU’s own writer-professors, Gail Wronsky (director, Creative Writing) and Rubén Martínez (Fletcher Jones Chair in Literature & Writing) have curated a day-long conference dedicated specifically to writers in Los Angeles and writing on Los Angeles—not as a one-off occasion, but as an annual celebration of the literary arts in the City of Angels.

The conference will gather about a dozen writers, both established and upcoming who both live here and represent the city in their work. The presenters will range across the genres—poetry, fiction, non-fiction and criticism. There will be panels, readings and opportunities to break bread, time for the LMU community to rub elbows with the best of the city’s literary talent.

Among the distinguished company will be the grande dame of L.A. lit, Carolyn See (There Will Never Be Another You), poet and 2008 Whiting Award recipient Douglas Kearney, Los Angeles Times Book Review editor David Ulin, performance poet and MTA diva Marisela Norte (Peeping Tom Tom Girl), historical fiction/noir-with-a-twist novelist Nina Revoyr (The Age of Dreaming), Terry “the Insurgent Muse” Wolverton, a veteran of the poetry scene (Embers), the politicized cyber-punk phenom of East L.A., Sesshu Foster (Atomik Aztex)Los Angeles Poetry Festival organizer and “unofficial Poet Laureate of Los Angeles” Suzanne Lummis, former Los Angeles Times staffer and elegant prose stylist Lynell George, “Witness L.A.” social justice blogger and author Celeste Fremon, novelist and UCLA professor David Wong Louie, Eastside performance writer Raquel Gutierrez. (MORE)



LAy of the LAnd is sponsored by Creative Writing and Syntext, Fletcher Jones Chair in Literature & Writing, Graduate Program in English, Marymount Institute, Denise Scott Fund and the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts.

The event is free and open to the public.


PROGRAM


12:00 Opening Reception/Lunch (Marymount Institute)

1:30 Panel I: “Visibility” (McIntosh Center)
Moderator: Alicia Partnoy, poet and LMU professor
Panelists: David Wong Louie (fiction)
Celeste Fremon (non-fiction, blogging)
Lynell George (non-fiction)
Terry Wolverton (poetry)

3:00 Break/Tea (English Department Village)

4:00 Panel II: “Invisibility” (McIntosh Center)
Moderator: Chuck Rosenthal, novelist and LMU professor
Panelists: Sesshu Foster (fiction, poetry)
Raquel Gutierrez (performance, theater)
Nina Revoyr (fiction)
Suzanne Lummis (poetry)

5:30 Wine & Cheese Reception (Ahmanson Foyer)

6:00 Featured Reading & Discussion (Ahmanson)
Moderator: David Ulin, editor, Los Angeles Times Book Review
Readers: Douglas Kearney (poetry)
Marisela Norte (poetry)
Carolyn See (fiction)

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