Towards a Theory of the Self: A Conversation with Arianne Zwartjes and Beth Alvarado.
We will discuss Maggie Nelson's The Argonauts, a book-length essay that advances a theory of the self. Why is this work so revolutionary? How does it explore the construction of self in a more intentional, theoretical way? We will read briefly from Nelson's work and from our own and talk about our approaches to writing nonfiction. We hope this conversation will evolve with your participation, as a true conversation does.
Arianne Zwartjes has worked as an outdoor educator, a wilderness medicine instructor, an EMT, and a carpenter. She teaches for the MFA in Creative Writing at Sierra Nevada College. She writes lyric nonfiction and is the author of Detailing Trauma: A Poetic Anatomy (U Iowa Press), The Surfacing of Excess, and Disem(body). Find her at ariannezwartjes.com.
Beth Alvarado is the author of Anxious Attachments, Anthropologies: A Family Memoir, and Not a Matter of Love. Her collection of fabulist tales, Jillian in the Borderlands, is forthcoming in 2020. Beth taught for years at the University of Arizona and now is faculty at OSU-Cascades Low Residency MFA Program. Visit her at bethalvarado.com.