Participation Type
Roundtable
Session Title
"The Danger of a Single Story": Ripping the Seams of Stereotypes and Piecing the People back Together
Session Abstract or Summary
These four writers from the West Virginia Wesleyan MFA community are impassioned about creating work that presents a diverse viewpoint of Appalachia and reflects the pockets of the region where they grew up or now reside. In her TED talk, writer Chimamanda Adichie states that “the single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they’re untrue, but they are incomplete”. Inspired by Adichie’s talk of what it means to write an authentic representation of a culture, these writers will read from original poetry and prose that challenges the Appalachian stereotypes often depicted in the region’s literature. During the final fifteen minutes of the panel, the writers will engage with one another and their audience on how their work resists and struggles with the notion of a single story, how their early exposure to Appalachian literature hindered their creative process, and how writers from the region can move beyond the single story by creating literature that stitches the expansive region together for readers to take away a more complex story of the region and its people without stripping them of their dignity.
Presentation #1 Title
Fiction Reading
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
A native of West Virginia, Kelly's prose deals with characters that are aching to leave Appalachia in search of themselves and their place in the world. Kelly will read for 10 minutes and discuss how the concept of the "single story" still plagues Appalachia today as well as how it hindered her ability to see past the stereotypes to find her own voice.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Danielle Kelly received her MFA in Fiction from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 2015 and currently serves as Instructor of English at West Virginia University at Parkersburg. Her work has appeared in Deep Water Literary Journal and in r.kv.r.y quarterly where her essay "What to Do on a Day Like This" was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She also serves as managing editor and co-fiction editor of HeartWood Literary Magazine.
Presentation #2 Title
Fiction Reading
Presentation #2 Abstract or Summary
Raised in Appalachia, Corcoran's fiction deals with characters who feel alienated from the Appalachian towns where they too reside or have left and have not returned, trying to find their niche in their fictional world. Corcoran will read for 10 minutes and then join all presenters and audience members in how the literature that depicted the region helped shape his characters and their stories.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Jonathan Corcoran is the author of The Rope Swing, which was a finalist for the 2017 Lambda Literary Awards and long-listed for The Story Prize. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Wesleyan University and a Visiting Writer in the low-residency MFA program at West Virginia Wesleyan College.
Presentation #3 Title
Poetry Reading
Presentation #3 Abstract or Summary
Stike, originally from Rochester, New York, will read a selection of poems rich in her upstate roots mixed with her many years of experience in Appalachia. Her poetry contains speaker's that depart from Appalachia but are deeply rooted in the values of the region. She will read for 10 minutes and then join in the dialogue of how she is able to overcome the idea of the "single story" within her poetry to create a move complex narrator.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Mary Imo-Stike was born and raised in Rochester, NY. She worked non-traditional jobs as a rail worker, construction plumber, boiler operator and gas company Compliance Officer. When retired from work-life, she obtained an MFA in Poetry from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 2015 and was the poetry co-editor of HeartWood Literary Magazine for two years. Her debut chapbook, In and Out of the Horse Latitudes is due in March of 2018. Mary lives in Scott Depot, West Virginia.
Presentation #4 Title
Fiction Reading
Presentation #4 Abstract or Summary
Sickels' prose is set all over the country containing characters we often encounter or judge but never take the time to notice. His characters are fully immersed and aware of the multiple meanings of their setting but serve as a lens to their inner selves grappling with their place as well as others' places in the world he creates. He will read for 10 minutes and promote dialogue of how he keeps her characters from becoming caricatures of the real people that inhabit the region.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Carter Sickels is the author of the novel The Evening Hour, and the editor of Untangling the Knot: Queer Voices on Marriage, Relationships & Identity. He is the recipient of the 2013 Lambda Literary Emerging Writer Award. His essays and fiction have appeared in various literary journals and anthologies, including Guernica and BuzzFeed. Carter is Assistant Professor of English at Eastern Kentucky University, where he teaches in the Bluegrass Writers Studio Low-Residency MFA program.
Fiction Reading
A native of West Virginia, Kelly's prose deals with characters that are aching to leave Appalachia in search of themselves and their place in the world. Kelly will read for 10 minutes and discuss how the concept of the "single story" still plagues Appalachia today as well as how it hindered her ability to see past the stereotypes to find her own voice.
