Writing the Dark of America with Red Hen Press

Saturday, March 7, 12:10 p.m. to 1:25 p.m. ET
Ballroom II, Baltimore Convention Center, Level 400

When we write dystopian fiction, do we do it to predict, or to avoid, our future? Our panelists have all written about the fracturing of communities that we cannot put back together. How responsible do we feel, as women, as people, to repair what is broken? Do we write these kinds of stories to find solutions, to shine a mirror on the flaws in society, or some mixture of both? Join us as we discuss eating, consuming, and writing the dark of America, and our efforts to turn back toward the light.


Panelist Bios:

Lily Hoàng is the author of nine books, including Underneath (winner of the Red Hen Press Fiction Award), A Bestiary (PEN/USA Nonfiction Award finalist), and Changing (recipient of a PEN Open Book Award). She is a professor of literature at UC San Diego, where she teaches in their MFA in literary arts. She lives in San Diego, California.








Amy Pence is the author of the poetry collections The Decadent Lovely and Armor, Amour; two chapbooks, Skin’s Dark Night and Your Posthumous Dress; and the award-winning hybrid [It] Incandescent. Her poetry, short fiction, reviews, and interviews have appeared in over one hundred literary magazines. Raised in New Orleans and Las Vegas, Pence studied poetry at the University of Arizona. She taught college English and poetry writing at Emory and in other workshop settings, and now tutors high schoolers part-time. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.







Abrea Armstrong, a Winston-Salem, North Carolina, native and descendant of enslaved Africans, is a poet, award-winning communications professional, and Ghanaian citizen whose debut novel Ferry Tales is inspired by her own journey of identity and reconnection.










Lara Ehrlich is the author of Animal Wife (Red Hen Press, 2020), host of the podcast Writer Mother Monster, and founder and director of the creative writing center Thought Fox Writers Den. Learn more at LaraEhrlich.com.

Photo Credit: Janice Checchio








Kate Gale, publisher and director, serves as Red Hen Press’s executive director. She manages Red Hen’s editorial vision, foreign rights, and donor cultivation. Gale works with the board and staff to set the vision for the organization, find the steps to get there, and align the team with that vision while keeping everyone motivated. It is a joy and a deep privilege to work with everyone on the Red Hen team.