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The Stories We Tell: Magical Realism as a Vehicle to Explore Identity

1:30 PM - 2:15 PM

Sunday, November 17

Capitol Extension Room: E2.010 (1100 Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78701)

Feminine-forward and deliciously uncanny, Sarah Cypher's The Skin and Its Girl and Michener Center for Writers graduate Megan Kamalei Kakimoto's Every Drop Is a Man's Nightmare are sharp reckonings with ancestral identity and family connection. With poetic and imaginative prose, Cypher's follows a queer Palestinian American woman who wades through memories and stories to decide whether to perpetuate her family's cycle of exile by leaving the only home she's ever known, in order to join the woman she loves in another country. In her debut short story collection, Kakimoto traverses tense bodily discoveries and surreal supernatural happenings that are haunted by Hawaiian folklore, family superstitions, and generational memory. Central to the two books are explorations of queer love and the autonomy of desire, as shaped by the shared histories of the women who came before them. With folklore and fantasy, Cypher and Kakimoto weave together rich ancestry and contemporary happenings to illustrate the way we make and shape identity. In this session, join the authors as they discuss how identity, desire, and stories transform us with equal parts horror and beauty.