The English Department’s Writing With Sound speaker series is a new project that focuses on the artistic medium of the podcast. By inviting to UVA several brilliant people working in the podcast/audio space, we hope to formalize and deepen a conversation that’s already happening across the University: the consideration of podcast production as a distinct writing medium and art form. 

Our second guest visit UVA on Thursday, April 25, and will include a public event at 5 p.m. followed by a Q&A. This event will take place in the 1515 Student Center on the Corner, and is co-sponsored by the Division for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; the Carter G. Woodson Center; the Department of Women, Gender & Sexuality; and the Department of Media Studies (see attached poster). 

Anna DeShawn is a Chicago-born social entrepreneur, storyteller, and community organizer. She is the writer and performer of the Queer News podcast, which won the 2023 Ambie award for Best DIY Podcast. DeShawn founded E3 Radio, an online radio station playing queer music and reporting on queer news with an intersectional lens, and co-founded The Qube, a podcast production company and curated platform featuring music and podcasts by BIPOC and QTPOC artists. DeShawn was recently inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame, on the basis of her having “created a canon of work that is unmatched” in the queer media space. 

This event will feature DeShawn in conversation with Dr. Lisa Woolfork, Associate Professor of English at UVA. Woolfork’s scholarship ranges widely across literature, theory, and contemporary pop culture, and in 2015 she was awarded UVA’s All-University Teaching Award. More recently, her podcast Stitch Please picked up the 2024 Ambie for Best DIY Podcast.

Please direct any questions to Piers Gelly (pgg3cw@virginia.edu).