CHLS Faculty Presenting at AWP 2016 in Los Angeles

Griselda Suarez will be on two panels at the AWP next spring 2016. She was invited by Veronia Reyes to join the panel, Jotas: A Chicana Lesbian Reading by Barrio-based Writers. The panel includes Wanda Alarcon, Myriam Gurba, and Claudia Rodriguez. This is a queer reading by Chicana poets and writers from East L.A., Long Beach, and beyond these fronteras.
This is the next generación. In her proposal to AWP Reyes wrote, “Their writings reflect their politics, beliefs, and lived experiences of la jotería existing in this país. Their hybrid writings build bridges within all their communities: LGBTQ and gente of color.They are proud of their roots. This is ¡Soy Chicana Lesbiana! Femme, Butch ¡Y Que!” Maestra Suarez will also present on a Craft and Criticism panel titled, No More Dead Bodies on the Page. Moderated by Lucy Jane Bledsoe, writers tackle how social entropy, the ways in which people and families and entire communities self-destruct, is represented in American fiction. Dysfunction and violence seem to sell. And yet, much more interesting – and much harder to write well – are narratives about how people connect, what makes community. Jane Smiley, Kirstin Valdez Quade, Lori Ostlund are also part of the conversation.