Last weekend, I attended the annual MELUS (Multi-Ethnic Literature of the U.S.) conference in Columbus, Ohio. This is my third MELUS conference. In 2006, I went to Boca Raton, Florida in order to see what the conference was like since CSUF had committed to host the conference in 2007. I attended interesting panels, including one on Asian American literature (Brooke, Huining, and Binbin) and another on graphic novels. Through such presentations, I encountered new texts to read and ideas to think about. I also got a lot of help from Wenying (the conference organizer that year) and Fred (who is on the MELUS board). We met for lunch and they shared great ideas about how to plan a successful conference, ideas which proved invaluable over the next year of planning.
I also gave a presentation at the conference--Wenying asked me to be on a panel about women writing rebellion just a couple of weeks before the conference. The panel needed one more presentation, so I wrote a paper over spring break on the representation of aging women in Chicana and American Indian poetry. When I arrived at my session, neither the chair nor any of the presenters were there. Even though I was the only presenter, my audience of about 10 stayed, listening attentively to my presentation, asking questions when it was over, and engaging in discussion for about a half hour.
Last year, I didn't present--I wanted to be able to focus on making sure that the conference ran smoothly. Our committee had worked so hard to plan every detail, and the conference was IMHO a great success: good sessions, lots of conviviality, and healthy exchanges of ideas. There was a warmth and energy about our conference that made most everyone feel comfortable--and many told us it was the best MELUS they had attended.
The conference in Columbus wasn't as well planned as ours. Still, it was great to see my MELUS friends and go to interesting sessions. I really enjoyed Jeff Berglund's presentation on a visual element of an online multi-ethnic literature course. He showed slides by such artists as Faith Ringgold, Wayne Eagleboy, and Flo Oy Wong. Jeff uses these images of flags and other American icons at the end of the semester to get students to think about the experiences of ethnic minorities in the U.S.--and their critiques of American patriotism.
I also really enjoyed the presentation by Monica Brown and Guisela Latorre. Monica (who happens to be the aforementioned Jeff's wife) is a professor and children's book author. She writes picture books that tell the stories of Latin@s in the public eye: Celia Cruz, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Gabriela Mistral. She and Guisela (an art historian) addressed Artivism, or the intersection of art and activism. They talked about how the text and art in Monica's books work to help kids understand the powerful histories of Latin@s. They were both great presenters who used powerpoint to display visual images of Monica's book. This was an exciting presentation, one that inspired me to think about how to use picture books in my upcoming presentations in Norway.
My good friend Samina presented on Saturday afternoon. She talked about the poetry of Brian Turner, an Iraq veteran, and the stylistic techniques he uses to try to come to terms with the Iraqi people even as he can't help but represent the U.S. to them. She talked about his use of "an aesthetic of smallness" and the inclusion of Iraqi history and myth. The presentation was thoughtful, nuanced, and generous, just like Samina.
The last session I attended was a round table in honor of Richard Wright's 100th birthday. I enjoyed Thadious Davis's account of Wright's participation in the WPA and Ayesha Hardison's thoughtful exploration of Wright's representation of women. The discussion was lively and informative.
Oh! I left out the fact that I gave a presentation Saturday morning on my friend Alex Espinoza's novel, specifically on the representation of a 15 year old illegal immigrant's story who symbolically brings the border with him to the San Bernardino Valley. The other presenter, Johnnie's friend George Hartley, showed up and we had an audience even though our session met at 8:30 on a Saturday morning.
One of the many reasons that I so enjoy MELUS is that everyone is so friendly and warm. Every year, I'm happy to see Brooke, Binbin, Huining, Wenying, Fred, and so many others. This year, I was especially glad to talk with Roy who teaches in Finland and Silvia who teaches in Austria. It will feel good to arrive in Europe knowing at least two other people on the same continent. And I hope to be able to see them both at some point during the year. I also really enjoyed talking with Lucilia, Samina's friend who is a native of the Azores islands. It was fun to talk all things Portugal with her and to remember how much I love that country.
I left the conference feeling invigorated and excited about the work I'll be doing next year. I hope to bring a lot of multi-ethnic literature into my presentations--how better to represent the U.S. than to talk about the diverse experiences of so many different ethnic groups and the ways that many of us try to live and learn from each other.
