Being in Pictures: A Conversation with Joanne Leonard and Sidonie Smith December 1, 2010

Are you interested in art? Photography? The lives of women? Join us for a conversation with author Joanne Leonard and Sidonie Smith, U-M Professor of Women's Studies and English. In Joanne Leonard’s book, "Being in Pictures: An Intimate Photo Memoir," she uses her personal experiences as a feminist artist, academic, single mom, identical twin, and daughter of an Alzheimer's patient to create evocative art and heartfelt writing. The conversation will explore the creative process and the ideas the work inspires. Followed by a book sale and signing, courtesy of the Michigan Union Barnes & Noble.

Joanne Leonard is Diane M. Kirkpatrick and Griselda Pollock Distinguished University Professor of Art and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan. Her photographs and photo-collage works have been widely exhibited and also published in Gardner's Art through the Ages, Janson's History of Art, and the Time-Life Library of Photography.

Sidonie Smith is Martha Guernsey Colby Collegiate Professor of Women's Studies and English and president of the Modern Language Association (2010). Her fields of interest include feminist theories, women's studies in literature, and autobiography studies. Her recent publications include "Human Rights and Narrated Lives: The Ethics of Recognition," co-written with Kay Schaffer; "Before They Could Vote: American Women's Autobiographical Writing, 1819-1919," co-edited with Julia Watson; second edition of "Reading Autobiography," co-written with Julia Watson; and numerous articles.

Free and open to the public. Join us in the U-M Hatcher Graduate Library Gallery. Public parking is available in the structure at 650 S. Forest, just south of S. University Ave.

Sponsored by The Author's Forum, which is a collaboration between the U-M Institute for the Humanities, University Library, Great Lakes Literary Arts Center, and the Ann Arbor Book Festival. Additional sponsorship for this event is provided by the U-M Department of English Language & Literature, School of Art & Design, and the Department of Women's Studies.