Program Coordinator Sandra Ens introduced our November 12th special guest speaker. Natalie Meisner is coordinator of the Mount Royal University Writer-in-Residence Program and a professor in the MRU Department of English where she works in the areas of creative writing, drama, and gender/sexuality studies.

Professor Meisner, who is also a published author and playwright, spoke engagingly about the importance of telling stories outside the mainstream so that other voices are represented at the table of post-modern literature. In addition to this focus on diversity and the “lit of now,” her teaching emphasizes the role of empathy in helping emerging writers engage with their subjects to craft stories that create community.  She concluded her presentation by referencing the shift in her own writing away from tragedy and anger toward comedy as a means of effecting social change.

After reading an excerpt from her very amusing work of non-fiction, Double Pregnant:  Two Lesbians Make a Family, Professor Meisner answered questions from the membership that confirmed the idea that literature is something we make, not just something we read.

FOR SO MUCH MORE, CLICK HERE TO VISIT NATALIE MEISNER’S WEBSITE

Helen