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A-State To Host Radical Writes Conference, Acclaimed Author

03/08/2015

JONESBORO — Author Jennifer Finney Boylan is the featured speaker at the Radical Writes Conference hosted by Arkansas State University, Thursday through Saturday, March 12-14. The title of the event is “She’s Not There: An Evening with Jennifer Finney.” The event is from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Wilson Hall Auditorium and is followed by a book signing with Finney.

Dr. Kristi Costello, director of the Writing Program and Center and assistant professor of rhetoric and composition, and Airek Beauchamp, visiting assistant professor of English, recently agreed to co-host the conference.

The Radical Writes conference is a graduate student writing conference that highlights writers who produce innovative and distinctive creative and critical work. More than 30 graduate students from all over the world will present their work.

Additionally, while the conference is hosting scholars, A-State is hosting professional speakers and publishers in order to provide an extra layer of professionalization to conference attendees.

Boylan, the author of 13 books, is the inaugural Anna Quindlen Writer in Residence at Barnard College of Columbia University and is a New York Times columnist.

In addition to having written the first bestselling work by a transgender American, “She¹s Not There: a Life in Two Genders,” she is also a nationally known advocate for civil rights and serves as the national co-chair of the board of directors of GLAAD, the media advocacy group for LGBTQIA people worldwide.

Boylan will discuss her life and writing process as well as read from “She's Not There” and “Stuck in The Middle.”

Sponsors of the event include the Arkansas State University Writing Program, the Women and Gender Studies Program, the Dean B. Ellis Library, the Lecture Concert Series, the Multicultural Center, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Student Government Association, the Department of English and Philosophy, Sigma Tau Delta, the Department of History, and the Department of Political Science.

Jennifer Finney Boyland
Author Jennifer Finney Boylan