The Desert Nights, Rising Stars
Writers Conference

This session explores the ethics, challenges, and diverse approaches to writing about the dead. Wisland will discuss the ways in which several writers (essayists, memoirists, journalists) have tackled narratives that require new and alternative approaches to their writing. Based on his own work and that of Adriana E. Ramirez, Tommy, and Maggie Messitt, Kirk Wisland will explore difficult questions: What do we do with the unanswerable and what does it mean to crowdsource the narrative of a life? When someone’s life ends in tragedy, how do we avoid writing a final moment that might define—or defame—that person? This session will include discussion and generative exercises.