Former track star and pro-MMA fighter Jenny Liou and outdoor adventure sports veteran Yi Shun Lai–both writers as well as athletes– dig deep into the process of writing about identities and bodies shaped by their dedication to sport. Who are you, when you can no longer compete, or when competing is no longer enough? Are some extremes irrecoverable once they’ve been reached? How might one heal, or insist on being more than just a winner? What does it mean to compete in white and male-dominated sports as Asian American athletes, and how do issues of race and gender play into dominant cultural narratives around individual athletic achievement? In conversation with author and former pro-wrestler Michael Copperman. Doors at 6:00pm.
Michael Copperman is an assistant professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric and Cultures at Michigan State University. His work has appeared in The Oxford-American, Guernica, The Sun, Creative Nonfiction, Boston Review, Salon, Gulf Coast, Triquarterly, Kenyon Review and Co... Read More →
Jenny Liou is a jiu jitsu black belt, retired MMA fighter, an English professor, the dean of Business and Social Science at Pierce College, and the author of the poetry collection Muscle Memory (Kaya Press 2022).
Yi Shun Lai is the author of A Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic, a young adult historical adventure. Her writing has appeared in Brevity, Shondaland, and more; and she teaches in the MFA program at Bay Path University and at Claremont McKenna College. She is also the author... Read More →
