Alien Form: Genre and the Production of Ethnic American Literatures

On March 31, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., CALS will sponsor the symposium, “Alien Form: Genre and the Production of Ethnic American Literatures,” in Foster Auditorium. “Alien Form” focuses on how genre and literature’s formal properties can be deployed to counter the strong desire to read Ethnic American literary production in terms of “identity,” “culture,” and “the authentic.” Centered on the production and marketing of Ethnic American literature as well as the cross-pollination between literary fiction and genre fiction, the symposium’s presenters will question the aesthetic possibilities and limits of Ethnic American literature as itself a generic category. Invited speakers include the award-winning writers Karen Tei Yamashita, Stephen Graham Jones, Sheree Renée Thomas, Nelly Rosario, and Ken Liu.