Are You Ready to Choose Love? Transformative Politics in Storytelling
What is the role of the storyteller in the apocalypse? How can we reclaim love as an essential part of revolution? In Kai Cheng Thom’s keynote address, she will draw on narrative theory, trauma and attachment psychology, and community organizing experience in order to examine the meaning and importance of “radical love” in feminist literature and storytelling. Kai Cheng outlines the responsibility of the literary and storytelling communities in the face of late-stage capitalism, impending climate disaster, and an increasingly polarized political scene. She pushes back against “call-out” and “cancel” culture and envisions a more compassionate justice based on integrity, honour, and unrelenting belief in the sacredness of human dignity.
Event Type: Keynote
Event Code: RET/SUN-1
Venue: Reliance Theatre, Emily Carr University
Date: Sunday, March 15, 10:00am – 12:00pm
Cost: Pay What You Can (recommended: $12.50)
This event will feature ASL-ENG interpretation.
Kai Cheng Thom is a writer, performer, community facilitator and healer based in Toronto. She isthe author of four award-winning books, including the novel Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir and the children’s book From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea. Kai Cheng’s latest book is her essay collection, I Hope We Choose Love, an exploration of transformative justice and the ethics of love in social justice activism.