AWP | Writing Motherhood in Post-Roe America
A person's decision whether or not to become a parent or guardian has long been a subject of writers. In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning the right to abortions, how does this dramatic shift in government oversight and assault on bodily autonomy shape the way we write about the value and specific work of mothering, teach antiracism to our children, and offer new narratives on parenting, guardianship, and motherhood? This panel draws together multidisciplinary writers to discuss parenting, identity, and what can be done to combat the latest crisis facing American families and communities.
This event takes place in-person at the Seattle Convention Center. AWP Conference registration is required to attend. Learn more here.
Jessamine Chan
Jessamine Chan’s short stories have appeared in Tin House and Epoch. A former reviews editor at Publishers Weekly, she holds an MFA from Columbia University. Her first novel, The School for Good Mothers, is a New York Times bestseller and a Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club pick. She lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter.
Sonora Jha
Sonora Jha is the author of the novels The Laughter (2023) and Foreign (2013) and the memoir How To Raise A Feminist Son: A Memoir and Manifesto (2021). After a career as a journalist covering crime, politics, and culture in India and Singapore, she moved to the United States to earn a Ph.D. in media and public affairs. Sonora’s OpEds, essays, and public appearances have featured in The New York Times, on BBC, and elsewhere. She is a professor of journalism and lives in Seattle. She teaches fiction and essay writing for Hugo House, Hedgebrook Writers’ Retreat, and Seattle Public Library.
Claire Dederer
Claire Dederer is the bestselling author of two critically acclaimed memoirs: Love and Trouble and Poser. Her new nonfiction book, Monsters, is based on her viral Paris Review essay "What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?" Monsters will be published by Knopf in April 2023. Claire's writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Nation, Vogue, Slate, and many other publications. She is the recipient of a Lannan Foundation residency and is currently on the faculty of the Creative Writing MFA at Pacific University.
Angela Garbes
Angela Garbes is the author of Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change, called “a landmark and a lightning storm” by the New Yorker. Her first book, Like a Mother, was an NPR Best Book of the Year and finalist for the Washington State Book Award in nonfiction. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Cut, New York, Bon Appétit, and featured on NPR's Fresh Air. Garbes is also a community advocate for reproductive justice, working families, and equity and inclusion. A first-generation Filipina American, lives with her family in Seattle.
