In this honest and interactive talk, Jennifer De Leon—editor, author, and professor of Creative Writing—will share some of the ways in which “story” can provide crucial insight into the complex intersection of race, class, and educational issues, dispelling myths and showcasing the diversity of our shared community’s experiences. She will give insight into her background as a Latinx author and discuss excerpts from her award-winning books—the Young Adult novel Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From and the essay collection White Space: Essays on Culture, Race, & Writing. Audience questions and reflections are encouraged, a book signing will follow the presentation and lunch will be provided.

Jennifer De Leon is author of the YA novel Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From (Simon & Schuster, 2020) which was chosen as a Junior Library Guild selection, and the essay collection White Space: Essays on Culture, Race, & Writing (UMass Press, 2021), which is a recipient of the Juniper Prize in Creative Nonfiction. She is also the editor of Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education (University of Nebraska Press, 2014), an anthology that won an International Latino Book Award. An Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Framingham State University and faculty member in the Creative Writing & Literature Master Program at Harvard University, she has published prose in over a dozen literary journals including Ploughshares, Iowa Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, and more. Jenn makes her home outside the Boston area with her husband and two sons. Her next YA novel, Borderless, is forthcoming in February, 2023. Also on the way are two children’s picture books—So Many Gifts, and a biography of Nobel Peace Prize winner, Rigoberta Menchú. Connect with her @jdeleonwriter on Instagram and Twitter or at her website:www.jenniferdeleonauthor.com