Keynote Announcement: Rebecca Makkai

aisaak on April 11, 2023

Rebecca Makkai’s dazzling stories have appeared in several prominent publications and anthologies, including The New England Review, This American Life, and The Best American Short Stories. Her novel, The Great Believers, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. In it, Makkai tells the story of the gay community in the 1980s, and how it fought the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Makkai’s works explore the mysteries and forgotten parts of history, from activist social movements to more intimate family histories, taking readers on journeys of exploration and recovery. Her newest novel, I Have Some Questions for You, will appear in late February. 

Learn more here: https://rebeccamakkai.com  

Register now to join us for this talk as well as dozens of other sessions featuring keynotes, artist conversations, roundtable discussions, musical performances, and much more. Conference events will be held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Tulsa, which has made a special rate available for festival attendees.

Keynote Announcement: Maia Kobabe

aisaak on April 11, 2023

Maia Kobabe is the author of Gender Queer, an acclaimed graphic novel that won the ALA Alex Award and Stonewall-Israel Fishman Award. Famous as it is infamous, Gender Queer earned the top spot for the most challenged book in 2021-22 for “sexually explicit” and LGBTQIA+ content, according to the American Library Association. Kobabe has become a voice for the LGBT community, and the text has become an anchor in conversations about trans and gender queer people, nonnormative sexuality, and censorship in libraries and schools. Kobabe’s work is also featured in various comic anthologies, including Tabula Idem: A Queer Tarot Comic Anthology, Rolled and Told Vol. 2, and Faster Than Light, Y’all. 

Learn more here: https://redgoldsparkspress.com

Register now to join us for this talk as well as dozens of other sessions featuring keynotes, artist conversations, roundtable discussions, musical performances, and much more. Conference events will be held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Tulsa, which has made a special rate available for festival attendees.

Keynote Announcement: Art Spiegelman

aisaak on April 11, 2023

Art Spiegelmann, Cartoonist und Comic Autor, München, Deutschland – Art Spiegelmann, Cartoonist and Comic Author, Munich, Germany, ©Enno Kapitza/Agentur Focus 2013

Art Spiegelman is the acclaimed creator of the Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel Maus and its sequel, Maus II. Both are narratives of survival that illustrate Spiegelman’s parent’s experience during the Holocaust. This series is used in school curricula across the nation but has frequently been targeted by those who object to its graphic depiction of historical facts. Spiegelman’s other projects include the comic magazine Raw, MetaMaus, In the Shadow of No Towers, and City of Glass: The Graphic Novel. He will join Ted Genoways, editor of the new Switchyard magazine, for a probing conversation about book banning and art’s enduring obligation to tell us even the most agonizing truths. 

Learn more here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/29291/art-spiegelman/  

Register now to join us for this talk as well as dozens of other sessions featuring keynotes, artist conversations, roundtable discussions, musical performances, and much more. Conference events will be held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Tulsa, which has made a special rate available for festival attendees.