Conference Schedule – How to Write Dangerously 2022

Monday September 12, 2022

  • 10:00 – 11:30 AM Eastern: Brian McLaren – learn more about Brian here
    • 10:00 – 10:45 AM Eastern: “Hunting Dangerous Game: Writing About the Big Five” – Old-time big game hunters talked about the big five, dangerous animals they dared to track into the wild. Brian McLaren will identify five dangerous topics that we need courage to address today, and he will offer guidance in how to track these topics as writers today.
    • 10:45 – 11:30 AM Eastern: Zoom Q&A
  • 12:00 – 1:30 PM Eastern: Frank A. Thomas – learn more about Frank here
    • 12:00 – 12:45 PM Eastern: “Writing Dangerously: I Write to Stay Sane” – In this workshop, I will explore writing to accept, order, and explain dangerous truths to oneself and others. Dangerous writing is not only to tackle taboo subjects, but to do so with a transparency and openness that is vulnerable, risky, and threatening to some. I will illustrate the principles of dangerous writing by the examination of a writing sample and draw principles and lessons that can be applied to anyone’s writing. I write dangerously to stay sane by making sense of my inner and outer world. 
    • 12:45 – 1:30 PM Eastern: Zoom Q&A
  • 1:40 – 2:20 PM Eastern: Networking Break
  • 2:30 – 4:00 PM Eastern: Angela Denker – learn more about Angela here
    • 2:30 – 3:15 PM Eastern: “Writing Dangerously in a Country on the Brink” – Join author and pastor Rev. Angela Denker, author of Red State Christians: A Journey into white Christian Nationalism and the wreckage it leaves behind, for a workshop on writing and leading in an age of growing Christian Nationalism, and violent and hate-filled rhetoric grounded in “Christian” packaging. Learn about Rev. Denker’s post-2016 election research across red-state America, and her continued work to advocate for truth in conservative contexts around COVID-19, racism, and right-wing Christian violence, while serving as solo pastor in a rural Midwestern town.
    • 3:15 – 4:00 PM Eastern: Zoom Q&A

Tuesday September 13, 2022

  • 10:00 – 11:30 AM Eastern: John Pavlovitz – learn more about John here
    • 10:00 – 10:45 AM Eastern: “Writing Dangerously, Living Beautifully” – Your specific journey is the only truly original contribution you will make as a writer. Everything has already been said before, but not by you and not in the precise place and time in which you will say it—which means your life and words matter. The truth is what makes you beautifully dangerous but there is always a cost to telling it. Let’s talk about the relational, emotional, and practical price of authenticity, and about how to write dangerously without expiring early.
    • 10:45 – 11:30 AM Eastern: Zoom Q&A
  • 12:00 – 1:30 PM Eastern: Susan K. Williams Smith – learn more about Susan here
    • 12:00 – 12:45 PM Eastern: “Tampering With “Beloved Texts” That Have Contributed to the Colonization of our Minds” – Using the Exodus story as the basis of this presentation, I will show how even the Bible and the reading/interpretation of it has contributed to and is the foundation of the racism, sexism, and belief in and adherence to white supremacy. The scriptures we love have been manipulated to keep the imbalance of power in place, with people using God as the justification for their actions and inactions.
    • 12:45 – 1:30 PM Eastern: Zoom Q&A
  • 2:30 – 4:00 PM Eastern: Elizabeth Hagan – learn more about Elizabeth here
    • 2:30 – 3:15 PM Eastern: “Save Lives, Write Dangerously” – Have you ever felt a pull to write something but then second guessed yourself because you think “I can’t say that?” There are so many reasons the best parts of our stories aren’t written or published because we fear not only what people think but offering our vulnerability scares us. But what if your that is what the hurting around need to hear the most? What if you could save lives by simply offering what you know about life, love, and loss? Come explore tools to both get you writing about those unmentionable experiences and how to stay grounded in your own mental health as you do. Then, hear how to enter the publishing world with confidence as your brave manuscript comes together. 
    • 3:15 – 4:00 PM Eastern: Zoom Q&A
  • 4:30 – 6:00 PM Eastern: Patty Krawec – learn more about Patty here
    • 4:30 – 5:15 PM Eastern: “Writing is dangerous. But dangerous to who?” – Who writes, who reads, and to what end? In oral traditions, such as that of the Anishinaabe people, stories change and evolve over time, story is set in the context of relationship to people and place. But in the European traditions of a single truth, writing has been a strategy of coercive control, a weapon of subjugation, and a manifestation of colonial realities. Even that writing which begins as subversive can become dangerous to the most vulnerable, can enact a more tolerant and inclusive colonial authority. So how do we write dangerously when writing itself is dangerous. 
    • 5:15 – 6:00 PM Eastern: Live Zoom Q&A
  • 8:00 – 9:00 PM Eastern: Second Tuesdays Writer Discussion Group
    • Live via Zoom: September’s guest speaker will be Susan K. Smith and our topic will be “writing as risk and renewal” – Being able to risk sharing hard truths in our writing is a necessary part of those who want to get people to think. That kind of writing is always risky – but when we decide to embrace the risk and write what nobody wants to say or hear, we are renewed. It is a living out of the scripture that says “you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” 

Wednesday September 14, 2022

  • 10:00 – 11:30 AM Eastern: Brian McLaren – learn more about Brian here
    • 10:00 – 10:45 AM Eastern: “Confronting the Monsters Inside Our Heads” – Sometimes the most dangerous writing shines a light on inner dynamics at play in each of us. We can write best about those dangerous monsters we have fought the hardest inside ourselves. Brian McLaren will name some of those monsters he has had to face inside his own head, and how that struggle translated into writing.
    • 10:45 – 11:30 AM Eastern: Zoom Q&A
  • 1:00 – 1:30 PM Eastern: Sarah Efird (pen name Refried Bean) – live Q&A to discuss her book Madman in Your Favor
  • 2:30 – 4:00 PM Eastern: Grace Ji-Sun Kim – learn more about Grace here
    • 2:30 – 3:15 PM Eastern: “Writing Dangerously from the Heart” – “Asian Americans are made invisible in this white dominant society. To speak or write about our experiences can be a dangerous act. To write dangerously is to write from the heart. This can lead to vulnerability and insecurity but can also bring forth a prophetic voice.” 
    • 3:15 – 4:00 PM Eastern: Zoom Q&A
  • 4:30 – 6:00 PM Eastern: Stacey Chomiak – learn more about Stacey here
    • 4:30 – 5:15 PM Eastern: The Journey to “Still Stace: My Gay Christian Coming-Of-Age Story” – Join author and illustrator Stacey Chomiak as she outlines the journey of creating her queer memoir Still Stace: My Gay Christian Coming-of-Age Story. In her young-adult illustrated memoir, Stacey Chomiak tells the true story of her teenage and young-adult years: of heartbreak, family conflict, trying to become ex-gay, wrestling with her faith, and finding love.
    • 5:15 – 6:00 PM Eastern: Zoom Q&A

Thursday September 15, 2022

  • 10:00 – 11:30 AM Eastern: John Pavlovitz – learn more about John here
    • 10:00 – 10:45 AM Eastern: “5 Dangerous Questions for Honest Writers” – Writing dangerously is hazardous business. Most people say they want honesty and boldness from writers and speakers, that is until their words create tension, bring turbulence, or invite change—which they always will. I’ll share the 5 most dangerous personal and professional questions you will face every day as you seek to write from your center.
    • 10:45 – 11:30 AM Eastern: Zoom Q&A
  • 12:00 – 1:00 PM Eastern: Live Zoom “How to Independently Publish Your Book” with Adam Thomas – a live walk-through demonstration of what it takes to independently publish a book – learn more about Adam here
  • 1:30 – 2:20 PM Eastern: Networking Break
  • 2:30 – 4:00 PM Eastern: Daniel Bowman Jr. – learn more about Daniel here
    • 2:30 – 3:15 PM Eastern: “Does the World Need Your Story? Why the Answer is Yes, and How to Write It Dangerously.” – In this session with autistic author and creative writing professor Daniel Bowman Jr., we’ll reflect on the doubts that visit most writers—especially the overall question of the need for one more article, memoir, or novel in today’s world. It can feel like our voices will be lost in the vast sea of narratives in print and on the screen. Using ideas from Leslie Leyland Fields, Marilyn McEntyre, Katherine Paterson, and his own books, Bowman will demonstrate why telling your story is in fact critical, and how to do it powerfully (and dangerously!) using the tried and true techniques of great writers.
    • 3:15 – 4:00 PM Eastern: Zoom Q&A
  • 4:30 – 6:00 PM Eastern: Lisa Sharon Harper – learn more about Lisa here
    • 4:30 – 6:00 PM Eastern: Live presentation and Q&A via Zoom: “The Subversive Power of Your Family Story” – The most consequential divide in our nation is the narrative gap. Stories shape worldview. Worldview shapes both politics and policy. Therefore stories shape the world. Competing narratives are vying for the soul of America. To heal our nation—and the church—we must shrink the gap between our narratives. What if your family story has the power to help heal the world? Lisa Sharon Harper, author of the celebrated epic memoir, Fortune: How Race Broke My Family And The World—And How To Repair It All, researched and wrote the stories of 10 generations of her family. In the process, she traced the origins and impacts of racial hierarchy in the US. Join us as Lisa demonstrates the subversive power of family narrative. And consider how your own family history might help reveal and heal the world. 

Friday September 16, 2022

  • 10:00 – 11:30 AM Eastern: Amy Julia Becker – learn more about Amy Julia here
    • 10:00 – 10:45 AM Eastern: “Writing about Hard Topics”: Disease, death, grief, racism, injustice, even faith–all of these are topics we are told to avoid at the dinner table. But writing well about topics that help us explore the deep human questions of meaning and purpose is also crucial for engagement with what it means to be human and live in community with others. How do we craft narratives about the hard stuff of life in a way that welcomes readers and encourages thoughtfulness? How do we make particular experiences into stories that resonate with a broad audience? In a world of endless light content, short attention spans, and ceaseless opportunities to be entertained, how do we write stories that draw readers in and help them think and grow? And how do we bring hope without becoming trite or sentimental? 
    • 10:45 – 11:30 AM Eastern: Zoom Q&A
  • 12:00 – 1:00 PM Eastern: Kate Rademacher and Brian Allain – learn more about Kate here and Brian here
    • 12:00 – 1:00 PM Eastern: Live Zoom: “Navigating a Bi-Vocational Life: Juggling Writing with Other Passions” – God calls many of us to more than one vocation. If one of your callings is to write, how do you honor that along with other parts of your life? This question has both practical implications (e.g., How will you find time for it all? How will you earn your living?) as well as spiritual dimensions (e.g., How do your vocations interact and ‘speak’ to one another?) Being bi-vocational also impacts the types of “platforms” we create as writers. If you have more than one vocation, how do you communicate about the various aspects of your life, including on social media? During this session, we will explore practical considerations including strategies to manage your time and craft your message. Participants will also engage in dialogue with one another about how we can discern and honor where God is calling us next.
  • 2:30 – 4:00 PM Eastern: Willard Ashley – learn more about Willard here
    • 2:30 – 3:15 PM Eastern: “New Rules for Radicals: Writing Dangerously”: Radicals write poetry and prose to the rhythm of jazz, the rage of protest songs, and the pinpoint accuracy of laser surgery. Radicals who write dangerously call the marginalized masses and muted middle class to analyze, assess and act. Dangerous writing through a radical lens communicates the need for unity, understanding, and urgency. 
    • 3:15 – 4:00 PM Eastern: Zoom Q&A
  • 4:15 – 5:15 PM Eastern: Open mic (Zoom)

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