Mennonite/s Writing: A Tweet-based Conference Review

Mennonite/s Writing VI: A Conference Summary in 140-Characters  X 41 Tweets

Julia Kasdorf’s concluding words challenge Menno writers to move past the narrative of transgression and rejection. Tricksters arise!#mwiv

Rudy Wiebe’s sermon at end of Mennonite/s Writing VI. Seven words of silence: sound, death, creation, joy, song, stone, writing. #mwiv

“Writing should be clean as a bone, hard as a stone. One word is better than two.” Elaine Sommers Rich quotes Elizabeth Yates #mwiv

Jessica Penner asks: what do you want to say? What are you actually saying? Why is your truth not the truth of the Mennonite world? #mwiv

Eileen Kinch describes the stance of the “between people” — both insiders and outsiders. #mwiv

“Like most authors I tried to learn about myself.” David Elias #mwiv

David Elias imagines himself transplanted to the Cave of Calypso instead of Winnipeg but still wanting to sing. His Mennonite legacy.#mwiv

David Elias sets up the proposition that there may be no such thing as a Mennonite writer. Without “props” what is there? #mwiv

@#Mennonite some tweets from Mennonite/s Writing conference available at #mwiv

Gregory Orr cites Paulo Friere: “Naming our world in our words” as his response to how the lyric poem confers dignity. #mwiv

Gregory Orr points to Emily Dickinson’s rewrite of Jacob and the Angel. “I shall not let thee go unless I bless thee.” #mwiv

Gregory Orr is outlining the history of poetry, teaching his audience how subjective sensibility can convert love to a weapon. #mwiv #FB

“who walks a furlong without sympathy/walks to his own funeral dressed in a shroud.” Walt Whitman #mwiv

Adam Smith — a theorist of imagination and identification. Gregory Orr quotes from The Theory of the Origin of Moral Sentiments #mwiv

Sappho sets love above military force, the individual above the collective social values–the “over culture.” #mwiv

Sappho: whatever one loves most is beautiful. #mwiv

“Writing the poem helps the poet live” — the reader also, when experiencing the “shock of recognition.” Gregory Orr #mwiv

The lyric poem is everywhere and always because it helps people survive.~Gregory Orr #mennonite #mwiv

“The ethics of lyric is an ethos of love. . .Power to bestow power on another by calling that person beautiful.” Gregory Orr #mwiv

“Ethics, Aesthetics, and the Lyric” by Gregory Orr. “I’ve always favored aesthetics that challenge the status quo.” #mwiv

Cookbooks are bestsellers for both Herald Press and Good Books.#mwiv

The Center for Mennonite Writing at Goshen College is indexed by the Modern Language Association. #mwiv

“We tell the author to read our cleaned up edited version first, then read the marked up copy.” Phyllis Pellman Good #mwiv

Want to publish? Don’t ask editors for a meeting. Send a good query instead.~Phyllis Good #mwiv

“Publishing is just connecting readers and writers.” Merle Good #mwivhttp://pic.twitter.com/qhgarOJX

“All my plays are about dealing with my anxieties.” Vern Thiessen#mwiv author of Einstein’s Gift, Lenin’s Embalmers, Shakespeare’s Will.

“Every play should pose a good question.” Vern Theissen #mwiv

Hildi Froese Tiessen describes the state of the art in Canadian Mennonite literature in three stages from homelands to traces.#mwiv

“I want to be the girl who lived.” [in contrast to the martyrs who have been iconic in Mennonite history] Ann Hostetler #mwiv

“It takes courage to spend time with the self in a Mennonite context.” Ann Hostetler #mwiv

The self in Mennonite garb: where does the writing come from? Ann Hostetler’s question in the state of the art session.#mwiv

The grandmother of Amish fiction? Katie by Clara Bernice Miller published by Herald Press. Valerie Weaver-Zercher #mwiv

Mennonites and Amish first show up in local color realism in early 1900’s. The are the “safe other” in a time of immigration. #mwiv

“Theology is a kind of writing. Words did not fall out of the sky. The strong poet must be transgressive.” Scott Holland #mwiv

Valerie Weaver-Zercher traces the history of the Amish romance novel–a combination of rurality, romance, and evangelical faith.#mwiv

“I didn’t know that grownups could do that!” exclaims Miriam Toews character Aggie as she encounters Diego Rivera mural.#mwiv

#mwiv Paul Tiessen deconstructs Miriam Toews’ Irma Voth in the context of the short-lived Mennonite publication Arena.

Amish quilts are “anything but humble.” Says museum booklet on Amish Abstractions. Marilyn Lehman questions this reading.#mwiv

#MWIV “I really miss her.” Grandma Keturah left deep impression on her large family. “Hair like ivory halo.” Lemon pie a way to find her.

“Can recipes tell a story? What can you tell about a woman from her recipe collection?” Katie Boyts asks. #mwiv

Blogger Katie Boyts “I’m going to write a cookbook, and you get to participate!” The Shoofly Project#MWIV

#MWIV first session I picked: Visual and Popular Culture.

I invite other readers who attended the conference to add their voices in the comment section below. By all means correct anything I got wrong. And if you are new to Mennonite literature and want to explore further, you might check out the youtube series put together by Hildi Froese Tiessen, professor of English at Conrad Grebel College of the University of Waterloo in Canada. I especially commend Julia Kasdorf’s talk, a verbal memoir which traces her career as a poet.