Mennonite/s Writing 2022: An International Conference

Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022

• 7 p.m., PLENARY SESSION – Church-Chapel, (View the livestream)
  • KEYNOTE – Casey Plett, S. A. Yoder Lecturer
  • PLENARY – The Arts of Witness, by Julia Spicher Kasdorf and Steven Rubin
• 8:30 p.m., Book sales and signing

Friday, Sept. 30, 2022

• 10 a.m., CONVOCATION/ PLENARY: Sofia Samatar, “In Search of The White Mosque” – Church-Chapel, (View the livestream)
• 11 a.m., Book sales and signing
• 7 p.m., PLENARY – Cascadia Poetry Panel moderated by Jeff Gundy – Church-Chapel, (View the livestream)
  • Readings by Cheryl Denise, Jean Janzen, Joseph Gascho, Esther Stenson, and other Cascadia poetry series authors present at the conference, including Raylene Hinz-Penner, Julia Baker Swann, and Ann Hostetler reading for herself and Jane Rohrer
• 8:30 p.m., Book sales and signing

Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022

• 1 p.m.  PLENARY SESSION READING: Rachel Yoder, author of Nightbitch, reading and interview with Sheri Hostetler – Church-Chapel, (View the livestream)
• 2-2:30 p.m., Book sales and signing
• 2:30 p.m., “VOICES TOGETHER” – Good Library Gallery
  • Two talks with hymn singing: “Singing in the Presence of Images” by Magdalene Redekop and “Writing Mennonite Hymn Texts” by Adam Tice. A downloadable PDF of the Voices Together exhibit program is available here.

Sunday, October 2, 2022

• 9:30 a.m., SERMON by Sheri Hostetler, Church-Chapel/College Mennonite Church

• 11 a.m., Plenary Performance, Newcomer Center, Room 19
  • Carol Ann Weaver and Connie Braun, “Poland Parables,” a composition for piano and voice. Mary-Catherine Pazzano, soprano

12-10 p.m., Registration in Church-Chapel

Pre-Conference S.A. Yoder Memorial Writing Workshops (advance registration required)
1 – 5 p.m. Julia Spicher Kasdorf and Steven Rubin: “Works of Witness,” Church-Chapel, Room 112
2-6 p.m. Casey Plett, “Closed/Open,” Church-Chapel, Room 110

5-7 p.m., Supper on your own – college cafeteria or local restaurants

7-8:30 p.m., Plenary Session:  Welcome & Keynotes featuring Casey Plett, Julia Spicher Kasdorf and Steven Rubin (free and open to the public) – Church-Chapel, (View the livestream)

8:30-9 p.m., Reception, book sales and signing by Fables Bookstore, Church-Chapel north hallway alcove

9 p.m.,  Music and Words, performance and jam session, Church-Chapel, Koinonia Room

• Featuring Jeff Gundy (chair), Kyle Gerber & Kaitlyn E. Gerber, Becca J.R. Lachman, Jessica Smucker

8 a.m. – 4 p.m., Registration

8:30-9:45 a.m., Concurrent sessions

• Session 1 – Mennonite/s Writing in the Information Age: A Community Discussion – Church-Chapel, North Fellowship Hall
  • Featuring Hope Nisly (chair) and participants Hope Nisly, Melanie Springer Mock, Tim Nafziger, Adam Schrag
• Session 2 – Who Tells the Stories? – Orality, History, and Voice – Church-Chapel, Koinonia Room
  • Featuring: Abigail Carl-Klassen (“Rebels, Exiles, and Bridge Builders” – oral history), Ruth Derksen Siemens (“To Whom Do Our Stories Belong?: Ethical Issues and Questions”), Bradley Schmidt (“Translating Mennonite Stories”)

10 a.m.- 2 p.m., 6-9:30 p.m. Book sale with signing opportunities at 11 a.m., 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

10-11 a.m., Plenary session/GC Convocation: Reading and Talk by Sofia Samatar – “In Search of The White Mosque” –  Free and open to the public – Church-Chapel, (View the livestream)

11 a.m., Refreshment break and book signing for Sofia Samatar, Church-Chapel, North Fellowship Hall

11:15 a.m. Concurrent sessions

• Session 3 – Historical Glimpses of Mennonite Literature – Church-Chapel, North Fellowship Hall
  • Featuring: Ervin Beck (“Plain Poetry for Plain People”), Christopher Dick (“The Mennonite Socialist Vision of Jakob G. Ewert”), Joel Nofziger (“Mennonite Historical Writing as Ecclesiastical Practice”)
• Session 4 – Creatures and Creation (poetry) – Church-Chapel, Koinonia Room
  • Featuring: Jessica Smucker, Todd Davis (Coffin Honey), Charity Gingerich (After June), Ann Hostetler (Safehold and after)

12:30-2 p.m., Lunch on your own

2-3:15 p.m., Concurrent Sessions

• Session 5 – Theorizing Mennonite Literature – Church-Chapel, South Fellowship Hall
  • Featuring: Daniel Shank Cruz (chair), Daniel Born (“Theorizing Mennonite Noir”), Grace Kehler (“Witnessing Beyond Redemption: Casey Plett’s Little Fish”), Robert Zacharias, (“Near the Stacks of the East Village Public Library”: Intertextuality as Mennonite Literary History)
• Session 6 – Fiction 1 – Church-Chapel, Koinonia Room
  • Featuring: Andrew Unger (chair), Jennifer Sears (short fiction), Jessica Penner (“They Speak of Houses”, novel ms. in progress), Bradley Schmidt (fiction & translations of German language fiction)
• Session 7 – A Sense of Place (creative nonfiction) – Church-Chapel, North Fellowship Hall
  • Featuring: Laura Hostetler (chair), Jeff Gundy (Wind Farm), Raylene Hinz-Penner (East of Liberal), Kathleen Kurtz (The Blistering Morning Mist)

3:15 p.m., Refreshment break

3:30 – 4:45 p.m., Concurrent Sessions

• Session 8 – Tribute to an Influential Teacher, Raylene Hinz-Penner – Church-Chapel, Koinonia Room
  • Featuring: Jennifer Sears (chair), Benjamin Lee Harder, Angela Lehman, Beth Piatote (in absentia)
• Session 9 –  Shaping Our Stories (creative nonfiction) – Church-Chapel, North Fellowship Hall
  • Featuring: Melanie Springer Mock (chair), Kirsten Beachy (“Woman Built of Stones: A Mother Tries to Write”),  Laura Hostetler (Bridging Worlds – the making of a cross-cultural memoir), Jessica Smucker (“Reluctantly Yours” – a memoir in progress)

5-6:45 p.m., Supper on your own

6-9:30 p.m., Book table open. Signings at 6 and 8:30 p.m.

7 p.m., Plenary: Cascadia Poetry Panel moderated by Jeff Gundy (free and open to the public) – Church-Chapel, (View the livestream)

• Readings by Cheryl Denise, Jean Janzen, Joseph Gascho, Esther Stenson, Raylene Hinz-Penner, Julia Baker Swann, and Ann Hostetler reading for herself and Jane Rohrer and other Cascadia authors present.

8:30 p.m., Book signing: Cascadia authors and others

8 a.m. – 12 p.m., Registration desk open

8:30-9:45 a.m., Concurrent Sessions

• Session 10 – Reading Miriam Toews and Rudy Wiebe – Church-Chapel, North Fellowship Hall
  • Featuring: Rob Zacharias (chair), Erin Ponnou-Delaffon (“Reading the Existentialists in Miriam  Toews’ Mennonite Fiction”), Travis Kroeker and Grace Kehler (“Confessing the Boy, Confessing the Man: August(in)e Miriam Toews’ Women Talking“), Paul Tiessen (“Giving shape to the fray: Mennonite/s Reading and the first Peace Shall Destroy Many skirmishes)
• Session 11 – The Body (poetry) – Church-Chapel, Koinonia Room
  • Featuring: Jessica Baldanzi (chair), Julia Spicher Kasdorf (new poems from As Is, forthcoming Spring 2023), Becca J.R. Lachman (work from What I say to this house, 2022, and My Friends’ Enormous Children, new manuscript), Barbara Nickel (“Disruption, Form and Faith” — poems from Essential Tremor, 2021)

9:45 a.m., Refreshment break

10-11:15 a.m., Plenary Session: Creative Writing Readings

• Session 12 – Humor – Church-Chapel, North Fellowship Hall
  • Featuring: Daniel Shank Cruz (chair), Andrew Unger (“The Daily Bonnet”), Tillie Yoder & Abby Nafziger, (“Just Plain Wrong” – podcast), Johnny Wideman (“Pressure Points in Polarized Places”)
• Session 13 – Spirituality in Poetry – Church-Chapel, Koinonia Room
  • Featuring: Peter N. Miller (chair), Julia Baker Swann (“Theopoetics at the End of the World”), Connie Braun (“The Stellium in This House”), Keith Ratzlaff (“Who’s Asking?”)

11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., 5:30-6 p.m., 8-9:30 p.m., Book table open for sales. Signings at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., and 8:30 p.m.

11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., Lunch on your own (Dining hall serving brunch at noon, Leaf Raker Cafe is closed.)

12:30-2:30 p.m. Mennonite Historical Library, special open hours for conference attendees.

1-2 p.m.,  PLENARY READING: Rachel Yoder, author of Nightbitch, reading and interview with Sheri Hostetler (free and open to the public) – Church-Chapel, (View the livestream)

2-2:30 p.m., Refreshment break, beverages, and book signing – Church-Chapel, North Fellowship Hall

2:30-3:45 p.m., Concurrent Sessions

• Session 14 – Text and Image in Voices Together – in the Good Library Gallery. Free and open to the public. Featuring “Singing in the Presence of Images” by Magdalene Redekop and “Writing Mennonite Hymn Texts” by Adam Tice. Presentations will include some hymn singing. A downloadable PDF of the Voice Together exhibit program is available here. Exhibit sponsored by the Mennonite and Amish Museum Committee.
• Session 15 – Speculative Fiction Panel Discussion – Church-Chapel, Koinonia Room
  • Featuring Jeff Gundy (chair), and participants: Jessica Penner, Sofia Samatar, Rachel Yoder
• Session 16 – Theopoetics and Diversity – Church-Chapel, North Fellowship Hall
  • Featuring: Paul Tiessen (chair), Kyle Gerber (“Emerging Community, Forgiveness, and the Resources of Ambiguity in WomenTalking”), Daniel Shank Cruz (“Theapoetics [sic] in Apocalyptic Times”)

4-5:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions

• Session 17 – Anabaptist Revisions – Church-Chapel, North Fellowship Hall
  • Featuring: Lauren Friesen (chair), Maxwell Kennel (“Mennonite Literary Criticism and Secular Social Critique”), Lauren Friesen and Dennis Koehn, (Anabaptist ReMix), Cameron Altaras (Resistance)
• Session 18 – Fiction 2, featuring Evie Yoder Miller (“When Art Meets History: Scruples on the Line”) and Andrew Unger (Once Removed) – Church-Chapel, Koinonia Room

5:30 p.m. – Book signing opportunity, selected authors, Church-Chapel, North Fellowship Hall

6 p.m., Banquet, and program (included with registration, separate tickets may be purchased for $30, as long as supply lasts), Church-Chapel, South Fellowship Hall

• Will include tributes: Victor Enns by Hildi Froese Tiessen, Merle and Phyllis Pellman Good by Ervin Beck, Magdalene Redekop by Ann Hostetler, Raylene Hinz-Penner by Jennifer Sears, Hildi Froese Tiessen by Rob Zacharias

7 p.m.,  CONFERENCE KEYNOTES: Hildi Froese Tiessen, “Fourteen Reflections After Some 32 Years” and Patrick Friesen, poetry reading, Church-Chapel, South Fellowship Hall

8:30 p.m., BOOK SIGNING – featuring Patrick Friesen and others

9 p.m. PLENARY – Pinchpenny Press 50-Year Celebration – Newcomer Center, Room 19

• Reading and Open Mic: Those attendees who have published a book with Pinchpenny Press are encouraged to read 1-2 minutes from their work. Organized by students Greta Lapp-Klassen and Gussie Nafziger. There will also be book sales available.

9:30 a.m., SERMON by Sheri Hostetler, Church-Chapel/College Mennonite Church

• Church service (singing begins at 9:15). World Communion Sunday. Mennonite Hymns from Voices Together will be featured.

11 a.m., Plenary Performance (Free and open to the public) – Newcomer Center, Room 19

• Carol Ann Weaver and Connie Braun, “Poland Parables,” a composition for piano and voice. Mary-Catherine Pazzano, soprano

11:30 a.m., Plenary Panel Discussion, Lobby outside of Newcomer Center, Room 19

• Featuring panelists: Abigail Carl-Klassen, Daniel Shank Cruz, Rob Zacharias