Writing Religious Wrongs: A Multi-Author Event

This multi-author event - sponsored by the Kaufman Interfaith Institute, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., and GVSU's Sex Ed Week planning committee - offers a trauma-informed space of deep listening as together we explore ways of processing religious/spiritual trauma, abuse, and pain through writing. Through personal memoirs, fiction, and academic research, each of these (im)Pure Michigan authors has found their works to be avenues of processing and naming wrongs. Join us as together we lean into journeys of breaking free from pain and finding healing together. Each session will consist of the authors sharing sections of their respective books followed by moderated Q&A and an opportunity to take home their works. GVSU students will receive a discounted rate for book purchases. 

** Trigger Warning: the content of both sessions may be emotionally challenging, disturbing, or triggering. While we will have measures in place at the event to create a trauma-informed space, we want to be sure participants are aware of the discussion they are entering into in advance. **

The event will feature:

• Cait West - Michigan State graduate in creative writing and publishing, and author of Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy (2024).
• Dr. Sara Moslener - writer, researcher, and lecturer in Central Michigan University's Department of Philosophy, Anthropology, and Religion, and author of Virgin Nation: Sexual Purity and American Adolescence (2015) and the forthcoming After Purity: Race, Sex, and Religion in White Christian America.
• Dawn Burns - assistant professor in Michigan State University’s Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Cultures, and author of fiction and creative nonfiction, including Evangelina Everyday (2022).

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Please fill out the following form if you intend to join us for either session of our multi-author event Writing Religious Wrongs on Thursday, February 13, 2025.

Session 1: Breaking Up with Purity Culture
12:00pm - 1:30pm | GVSU Allendale Campus, Kirkhof 2263

Session 2: Processing Religious Trauma Through Art
7:00pm - 9:00pm | GVSU Health Campus, downtown Grand Rapids, Devos Center for Interprofessional Health (DCIH) 104

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Session 1: Breaking Up With Purity Culture, 12pm-1:30pm (Allendale Campus)
Session 2: Processing Religious Trauma Through Art, 7pm-9pm (downtown GR, GVSU Health Campus)

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