Students and writers alike in the Fresno, California area will be pleased to learn a variety of unique and insightful virtual activities will be available to them throughout the month of March.
On Saturday, March 6 starting at six in the evening via Zoom is the Fresno Writers Live at Rogue Festival 2021 (HAIS). The cost for the event is five dollars and tickets are currently available at the following: http://bit.ly/FS-rogue-hais.
The event features currently enrolled creative writing program students in connection with the Fresno State Hmong American Ink and Stories Club performing poetry, stories, and essays for Fresno State’s annual Rogue Festival. Readers include Lee Lee, Laura Thor, Maiyang Lor, and Tony Vang.
Of the writers via the event’s Facebook: “Lee Lee grew up surrounded by her father’s peach blossoms. Her childhood dream was to become a crazy spinster cat lady with her sisters. Lee holds a bachelor’s degree in English, and she is now a grad student in the Fresno State MFA program, studying fiction writing. Lee enjoys writing about gender roles, identity, and family.”
“Laura Thor is in her second semester as an English major at Fresno State, with an emphasis in creative writing. For the past two years, Laura majored in pre-nursing. She knew she was pursuing the wrong dream when she discovered that she lacked passion and heart in her studies. Although she has a lot to learn, Laura hopes to find a place in the literary world, and tonight may be the first step.”
“Maiyang Lor was born and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin where she spent her entire childhood reading and writing. After graduating from Fresno State last year, with a bachelor’s degree in English Education, Maiyang is currently a student in the single subject teaching credential program. She aspires to become a high school English teacher.”
“Tony Vang is a Fresno poet who writes poetry and could tell you how long each poem took to compose: He measures composition time not in abstract days and weeks, but in precise hours. Currently, he is practicing a Hmong oral art (pronounced as 'sheng'), but with a complication: substituting his Hmong language with the English language.”
Coming up on Friday, March 12 starting at eleven in the morning is the Fresno State Department of English’s Twelfth Annual Undergraduate Conference on Multiethnic Literatures of the Americas or UCMLA. The conference is free and open to the public, though pre-registration is required for each individual session. UCMLA will be one hundred percent virtual this year via Zoom.
The two-day long festival begins Friday, March 12 at eight in the morning with opening remarks, followed by Panel 1 at nine in the morning discussing the economies of race. At eleven-fifteen Panel 2 will take center stage and discuss identities, embodiedness, and visuality, with a lunch break to follow at twelve-forty-five.
Following lunch, at two in the afternoon, the afternoon keynote speaker will be Dr. Monica De La Torre. Following Dr. De La Torre’s keynote will be Panel 3 presenting narrative world making at four-fifteen in the afternoon. Following a brief dinner break at five-forty-five in the evening, the evening keynote speaker will be Gerald Vizenor at seven in the evening.
The events kick off on the second day, Saturday, March 13, at nine-forty-five in the morning with Panel 4 discussing resistance and self-determination. The events at UCMLA will end with a craft talk by Gerald Vizenor at noon.
On Sunday, March 14 at two in the afternoon via Zoom is the Fresno Writers Live at Rogue Festival 2021 (CWAA). The cost for the event is five dollars and tickets are currently available at the following: http://bit.ly/FS-rogue-cwaa.
The event features currently enrolled creative writing program students in connection with the Fresno State Chicanx Writers and Artists Association performing poetry, stories, and essays for Fresno State’s annual Rogue Festival. Readers include: L.S. Arévalo, Bradley Samore, Cristina Sandoval, and Hermelinda Hernandez Monjaras.
Of the writers via the event’s Facebook: “L.S. Arévalo is a poet, playwright and writer originally from Cali’s central coast. She has been published in Flies, Cockroaches & Poets, Mujeres de Maíz, the San Joaquin Review, the Fresno City College Review, and the University of Nevada Reno’s Basta! 100+ Latinas Against Gender Violence. She enjoys writing about indigenous cultures, gender, identity, and all relations. She also loves to sing and dance.”
“Bradley Samore studies poetry and works as a writing consultant for graduate students at Fresno State. After earning his undergraduate degree, he taught English and coached basketball in Asturias, Spain. And then, he returned to the U.S. to teach in Florida, North Carolina and now California. Bradley’s writing has been featured in various publications including the West Texas Literary Review and Cloudbank.”
“Cristina Sandoval is a Chicana poet from Modesto, California. She discovered her love of writing at a young age, always creating stories and playing with both dolls and words. She received her bachelor’s degree in TESOL, or Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, from Stanislaus State in Turlock, and she is now studying for her MFA in poetry at Fresno State. Cristina hopes to one day be a published writer, and to be part of a larger writing community.”
“Hermelinda Hernandez Monjaras is an aspiring poet. She majors in English at Fresno State, with an emphasis in creative writing.”
Also happening in March is an author reading by Bill Roorbach sponsored by the San Joaquin Literary Association (SJLA) and the Fresno State MFA Program. The virtual event will be held via Zoom, starting at seven in the evening on Friday, March 19. Admission to Roorbach’s reading is free with pre-registration for the event required.
Closing out the writing-related events in March is another author reading by Hanif Abdurraqib. The Normal School literary magazine in association with the Fresno State MFA Program will be presenting the event on Friday, March 26 starting at seven in the evening via Zoom. Admission to Abdurraqib’s reading is free with pre-registration for the event required.
Comments / 0