A Litquake panel featuring Ellen Barry, Andrea Canaan, Lisa Clapper, Natalie Devora, Juli C. Lasselle, Jessica Millett and Suma Nagaraj will discuss and engage the audience in a brief writing exercise through the workshopping model Radical Creative Womanist Workshopping and Reflection in Community (RCWWRC). An antidote to competitive traditional workshopping models, the spirit of RCWWRC is for writers to bring a writing work to life with the support of a writing community. Presented by Litquake. 

Panelists: 

Ellen Barry is a social justice activist who is deeply committed to racial justice and the end of mass incarceration. In 1978, she founded Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC), a non-profit organization which has advocated on behalf of incarcerated parents and their children.

Andrea Ruth Ransom Canaan, MSW, MFA, is a contributor to This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, edited by Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua with her lauded essay, “Brownness.” Canaan is the founder of A Writer’s Life (AWL).

Connect: A Writer's Life - Website 

The Lisa Clapper is a poet, spoken word artiste, author, brand maven, and positive energy Yay advocate with over 3 decades of storytelling and brand strategy experience. By heart and soul, she is a writer and storyteller who loves the written word and comes alive voicing the spoken word in all its forms.

Connect: The Lisa Clapper - Website

Natalie Devora is an activist on issues related to albinism. Devora is the author of Black Girl, White Skin: A Life in Stories. She was senior editor for Aché: A Journal for Lesbians of African Descent. She has been featured on NPR’s Code Switch and The Top Of Mind podcast. 

Connect: Natalie Devora - instagram

Originally from Berkeley, CA, Juli C. Lasselle holds an MFA from the University of  San Francisco and has been published in The Brooklyn Review, The Sun, Flash Fiction Magazine, and forthcoming in 2025 in the Cimarron Review.

Connect: Juli C. Lasselle - X

Jessica Millett is a fearless writer, creative thinker, and collector of words. When she is not navigating the minutiae of corporate life, she writes children’s books and dreams about the illustrations that will bring them to life. Millett has written four children’s books.

Suma Nagaraj is a writer, editor, website designer, and content consultant with an MFA in creative writing from USFCA. She offers manuscript editing, content writing, web design, and social media strategy/consultancy services. Nagaraj is currently working on a book of short stories.

Connect: Suma Nagaraj - Website 

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