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"What if, for once in history, a woman’s story could be untethered from what we need it to be in order to feel better about ourselves?" writes visionary author Lidia Yuknavitch in her latest work, The Book of Joan. In this provocatively reimagined Joan of Arc story set in the near future, the world is ravaged by war, violence, and greed, and it brings into question art, sex, gender, and what it means to be human. Amber Tamblyn, widely known for her work as a director and actress, including her role as a modern-day Joan of Arc in the television series Joan of Arcadia, has also written several acclaimed collections of poetry. Yuknavitch and Tamblyn, two misfits who have spurned literary, cultural, and societal expectations to explore unlikely creative worlds, share the stage with fellow misfit Ann Friedman, journalist and co-host of the popular podcast Call Your Girlfriend, to discuss the art of nonconformity.
Lidia Yuknavitch is the author of the National Bestselling novel The Small Backs of Children (winner of the 2016 Oregon Book Award’s Ken Kesey Award for Fiction and the Reader’s Choice Award), the novel Dora: A Headcase, and three books of short fiction. Her widely acclaimed memoir, The Chronology of Water, was a finalist for a PEN Center USA award for creative nonfiction and winner of a PNBA Award and the Oregon Book Award Reader’s Choice. Lidia received her doctorate in Literature from the University of Oregon. She lives and teaches in Oregon with her husband, Andy Mingo, and their renaissance man son, Miles. She is a very good swimmer.
Amber Tamblyn has been nominated for an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Independent Spirit Award for her work in television and film and is known for her work as Joan on the CBS television program Joan of Arcadia. Her debut collection of poetry Free Stallion, won the Borders Book Choice Award for Breakout Writing in 2006. Her work has since been published in New York Quarterly, San Francisco Chronicle, Poets & Writers, Interview, and others. She is the Executive Producer of “The Drums Inside Your Chest”, an annual poetry concert that showcases outstanding contemporary poets, and co-founder of the nonprofit Write Now Poetry Society which works to build an audience for unique poetry events. Her second book of poetry and prose Bang Ditto, published in 2009, was an Independent Best Seller. She currently writes for The Poetry Foundation and is a poetry reviewer for Bust Magazine. She lives in New York City with her betrothed, comedian David Cross.
Ann Friedman is a freelance journalist who writes about gender, media, technology, and culture. Former executive editor of GOOD Magazine, she is a frequent contributor to The Los Angeles Times, The Gentlewoman, The New Republic, The New York Times Book Review, ELLE, The Guardian, and Los Angeles magazine. Along with Aminatou Sow, she co-hosts the hit podcast Call Your Girlfriend, featuring engaging dialogues on friendship, pop culture, and politics.
