Genre as Method: Mary H.K. Choi and Eve L. Ewing on Writing Across Forms

Thursday, March 18, 2027, 12:10 p.m. to 1:25 p.m. CT

 

Mary H.K. Choi and Eve L. Ewing have built bodies of work that range across YA fiction, poetry, journalism, sociology, and the Marvel universe to narrate the complicated process of coming of age and to terms with oneself in a fractured contemporary. Choi and Ewing will read from their work and discuss the craft of moving between genres, the challenge of writing young people and communities, and what it means to take genre seriously as a vehicle for complex ideas.


Panelist Bios:

Eve L. Ewing is a writer, scholar, and cultural organizer from Chicago. She is the award-winning author of many books across genre, most recently Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism, an instant New York Times and USA Today bestseller. Ewing is an associate professor in the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity at the University of Chicago, and a coowner of Build Coffee & Books.

Photo Credit: Mercedes Zapata

Mary H.K. Choi is a New York Times bestselling author whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, New York, Elle, and Vogue. She has written comics for Marvel and DC and was awarded the Katherine Min Fellowship at MacDowell. She is currently developing her books for film and TV. Her fourth novel, Pool House, is out now. Follow her on all social media at @choitotheworld as well as the choitotheworld Substack. She lives in downtown New York.

Photo Credit: Aaron Richter

Courtney Bethel has been a vital part of MacDowell’s artist community since 2000. As admissions cirector she has taken the lead in shaping and stewarding the artist application experience from start to finish. Bethel oversees more than 4,000 applications each year and coordinates MacDowell’s twice-annual selection process, bringing together rotating admissions panels across seven artistic disciplines. When she’s not championing artists and keeping the admissions process moving, Bethel is happiest reading, going to concerts, and making the most of outdoor living in New Hampshire with her husband, two children, and dog, Gracie.