October 20-21, 2006

Impunities
Experimental Writing Conference

In the confluence of imaginary communities, autonomous zones and technologies of identity and difference, what role can writing play in the invention of alternative communities, identities and politics? The third annual conference hosted by the CalArts MFA Writing Program brings together a disparate group of prominent cultural nomads, writers and iconoclasts who set in motion our collective fantasies of escape, oblivion, arrival and transformation. This two-day symposium features Chris Abani, Sesshu Foster, Renee Gladman, Johnny Golding, Shelley Jackson, Joni Jones, Bhanu Kapil, Lewis MacAdams, K. Silem Mohammad, Ishmael Reed, Emily Roysdon, Sarah Schulman, Mady Schutzman, Edwin Torres, and Anne Waldman.

Organized by MFA Writing Program faculty Matias Viegener and Christine Wertheim with support from The Annenberg Foundation.

For student and CalArts alumni, faculty and staff discounts,
please call the REDCAT box office at 213-237-2800.

Schedule:

FRI OCT 20, 12:30 PM

Introduction and Welcome 12.30 PM

Situated Identities: Locations of Difference 1–2:30 PM
Against the ideology of a universal positionless subjectivity, (how) can writers articulate specifically situated identities?
Speakers: Renee Gladman, K. Silem Mohammad, Matias Viegener

Collectivity, Community, Control 3–4:30 PM
Are there forms of collectivity, whether spontaneously self-organizing or hierarchically formed, that offer alternatives to the dominant systems of creation and social control?
Speakers: Lewis MacAdams, Ishmael Reed, Emily Roysdon

FRI OCT 20, 8:30 PM

Evening reading performance 8:30–11 PM
Chris Abani, Sesshu Foster, Johnny Golding, Shelley Jackson, Joni Jones, Bhanu Kapil, Edwin Torres, Anne Waldman, Christine Wertheim.

SAT OCT 21, 10:30 AM

Imagined Identities: Technologies of the Self 10:30 AM–12 PM
How can alternative identities be imagined and articulated in language? Do such literary technologies of the self help us negotiate with real powers, or do they always remain in the realms of 'fiction'?
Speakers: Shelley Jackson, Bhanu Kapil, Edwin Torres

Allegories of Transformation 12–1:30 PM
What are the conceptual toolboxes of writers who imagine alternative narratives and alternative worlds, and which devices and allegories of transformation work best to effect real change?
Speakers: Chris Abani, Sarah Schulman, Mady Schutzman

Lunch – on your own or with participants in Walt Disney Concert Hall Cafe 1:30–2:45 PM

Counter-memory 2:45–4:15 PM
How do writers activate memories against the stream? Can writing help resist or liberate the peripheral consciousness of subjugated knowledges?
Speakers: Sesshu Foster, Joni Jones, Anne Waldman

Summary Panel 4:15–5:45 PM
Imaginary communities, actual issues | Fictional characters, real writers.
Speakers: Christine Wertheim, Johnny Golding

SAT OCT 21, 8:30 PM

Evening reading performance 8:30–11 PM
Renee Gladman, K. Silem Mohammad, Matias Viegener, Lewis MacAdams, Ishmael Reed, Emily Roysdon, Sarah Schulman, Mady Schutzman,