Spring Break
Women writers impart strength, inspiration
Shannon Ayers
Issue date: 10/8/07 Section: Culture
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Latino culture, a suicidal father and home cooking were all topics for discussion during a recent celebration of women authors.
Listeners gathered Oct. 4 at the Plaza Branch of the Library to hear four authors read selections of their works. These women included Maria Vasquez Boyd, Judith Fertig, Barbara Robinette Moss and Christie Hodgen.
Each woman represented a genre in writing and brought her own personal story of strength.
Boyd, a native of Kansas City, opened the show with poetry.
Her pieces included "Window Pane," "Blah Blah Blah" and, my favorite, "Adios Barbie." Boyd's poetry reflected her Latino culture with stories of Day of the Dead celebrations and calling Barbie out for her lack of cousins.
Creative Writing professor Christie Hodgen read from her new novel, "Hello, I Must Be Going."
She described her book as a "cheery story about a family whose father commits suicide."
In the first chapter she introduces us to the world of ten-year-old Frankie whose summer days were filled with old television reruns and time with her brother.
"Fireflies blinked as I walked across the tall grass. The world was magical," Hodgen read.
Non-fiction author Fertig read from her cookbooks.
She stepped up to the podium and started with a recipe.
"Two eggs, one cup of milk. I'm not going to read a recipe for you all. That's just a bit of cookbook humor," Fertig said.
Fertig spoke about how moving out to Kansas City made her and her family "sky-watchers" and how writing a book about home-baked breads helped her deal with empty nest syndrome.
Moss read parts of her memoirs "Change Me Into Zeus' Daughter" and "Fierce."
In them she talks about growing up in poverty in Alabama where her mother once scrubbed insecticide-laden beans and corn once because it was their only food and about her father leaving them.
In "Fierce" she described the hardships of being a single mother while in graduate school.
Her neighbors harassed her for using food stamps and left notes on her doorstep about when she must move her garbage can.
She refused to back down and erected a sculpture with her trash can painted all the colors of the rainbow that read "do unto others as you would have done unto yourself."
Kansas City resident Adelyn Small said the event was enlightening.
"It's like a creative boost. It's exciting," Small said.
I agree with her, but I would have to say that listening to the stories of these strong women and their strong characters was a boost for the soul as well.
skat33@umkc.edu
Listeners gathered Oct. 4 at the Plaza Branch of the Library to hear four authors read selections of their works. These women included Maria Vasquez Boyd, Judith Fertig, Barbara Robinette Moss and Christie Hodgen.
Each woman represented a genre in writing and brought her own personal story of strength.
Boyd, a native of Kansas City, opened the show with poetry.
Her pieces included "Window Pane," "Blah Blah Blah" and, my favorite, "Adios Barbie." Boyd's poetry reflected her Latino culture with stories of Day of the Dead celebrations and calling Barbie out for her lack of cousins.
Creative Writing professor Christie Hodgen read from her new novel, "Hello, I Must Be Going."
She described her book as a "cheery story about a family whose father commits suicide."
In the first chapter she introduces us to the world of ten-year-old Frankie whose summer days were filled with old television reruns and time with her brother.
"Fireflies blinked as I walked across the tall grass. The world was magical," Hodgen read.
Non-fiction author Fertig read from her cookbooks.
She stepped up to the podium and started with a recipe.
"Two eggs, one cup of milk. I'm not going to read a recipe for you all. That's just a bit of cookbook humor," Fertig said.
Fertig spoke about how moving out to Kansas City made her and her family "sky-watchers" and how writing a book about home-baked breads helped her deal with empty nest syndrome.
Moss read parts of her memoirs "Change Me Into Zeus' Daughter" and "Fierce."
In them she talks about growing up in poverty in Alabama where her mother once scrubbed insecticide-laden beans and corn once because it was their only food and about her father leaving them.
In "Fierce" she described the hardships of being a single mother while in graduate school.
Her neighbors harassed her for using food stamps and left notes on her doorstep about when she must move her garbage can.
She refused to back down and erected a sculpture with her trash can painted all the colors of the rainbow that read "do unto others as you would have done unto yourself."
Kansas City resident Adelyn Small said the event was enlightening.
"It's like a creative boost. It's exciting," Small said.
I agree with her, but I would have to say that listening to the stories of these strong women and their strong characters was a boost for the soul as well.
skat33@umkc.edu
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