February 25 - African American History Month Writing as Resistance Conference

The writing conference is offered as a honoring of African American History and respect for all people of color. The conference will have concurrent sessions throughout the day so that attendees may benefit from multiple means of literary expression. A working lunch includes meeting with the instructors and revising drafts. At the end of the day, those who would like to may read their work before a very friendly and welcoming audience, at a location on the same day as the conference, to be determined.

Dr. Kerry Neville leads the program, and she is an Associate Professor of English at Georgia College and the Coordinator of the Undergraduate and MFA Programs in Creative Writing. She is the author of two collections of stories, Necessary Lies, which received the G. S. Sharat Chandra Prize in Fiction and was named a ForeWord MagazineShort Story Book of the Year, and Remember to Forget Me. Her work has appeared in publications such as The Gettysburg Review, Epoch, Triquarterly, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, and elsewhere. Her fiction and nonfiction have been named Notables in Best American Short Stories and Best American Essays. In 2018, she was a Fulbright Fellow at University of Limerick in Ireland, where she was Visiting Faculty in the MA in Creative Writing Program.

Dr. Carla Walter teaches the Writing as Resistance for People of Color sessions. Dr. Walter is the current Executive Director of Allied Arts (she will not be compensated for this event) and has offered this and similar workshops through the San Francisco Writers Grotto and San Diego Writers Ink. She has published numerous books and articles on the subject of African American culture, race and resistance. She holds a doctorate in cultural studies related to dance, and an MBA, as well as a bachelor's degree in Economics. This part of the conference will focus on using writing (prose, poetry, ebonics, etc.) to express social injustice and give voice and agency to the American experience.

Bring your lunch and pencils, pens, paper or laptop for your writing!

Fees are as follows:

Adults $100

Seniors 65+ $50

Full time Students with ID $25

If you need assistance please contact the executive director at Allied Arts. Register by Feb 20, 2023 so that we may have adequate space for you!