Authors Talking: Writing from Hurt and Hardship with Hope

About the authors: Anne Meisenzahl: Anne Meisenzahl’s novel, “Long Time Gone,” centers on a young woman named Grace, whose pursuit of justice in the wake of the priest abuse scandal forces her to confront her relationship with the Catholic Church of her youth and helps her forge a more spiritual and centered life. Anne currently teaches poetry in prison. Faith Eidse: Faith Eidse’s Kingsbury Award memoir, “Deeper than African Soil,” follows the daughter of Mennonites serving in emerging Congo through revolution, disease, and boarding school trauma. Eidse won Florida’s oral history of ’07 for “Voices of the Apalachicola” and published her parents’ story, two collections on growing up global, and a novel drawn from volunteering in women’s prisons, “Healing Falls.” Suzan Kurdak: Suzan Kurdak, under the pen name Suzan Zan, writes memoirs and poetry about overcoming a mentally abusive marriage, depression, and low self-worth. Susan is currently writing stories of women in a local 12-month faith-based addiction recovery group.

About the discussion: This timely panel will discuss their writing processes and how the “misapplication of forgiveness gives permission” to abusers (quote from the Oscar-nominated “Women Talking”) in a climate of book-banning and muzzling diverse viewpoints. The panelists will also explore the impacts of religion and powerlessness from their various traditions.