Catastrophic Catalysis: Women Taking Risks for Humanity

When trauma and unpredictable life changes demand difficult sacrifices, the inspiring authors and characters of this panel choose to take any risk necessary to preserve the tenderness and creativity of humanity, and the humanities. Inspired by journalists Christiane Amanpour and Sylvia Poggioli, Midnight, at the War is Devi Laskar’s novel about a foreign correspondent who leaves New York for the war-torn Middle East after learning she is pregnant, an assignment that forces her to grapple with the physical and emotional tolls of her pregnant body and a turbulent region. A renowned dancer faces a career-ending neurologic disorder and a strained marriage in The Edge of Yesterday by Rita Woods, and she is offered an escape from the sorrow of her “real life” when she stumbles through a vortex that transports her from 2025 back into 1925 Detroit, where she meets a handsome, charming doctor. In her book Sacrament, Susan Straight highlights the quiet heroism and extraordinary bravery of a group of ICU nurses living in a makeshift RV camp close to the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic, facing personal and professional challenges as they care for strangers. When big changes blow up our lives, it takes courage to create from the empty space left behind, and life coach Naomi Vladeck’s Braving Creativity provides women with creative tools needed to flourish in work and in life, inspiring creatives to ignite their courage to face the unknown path ahead. Moderated by Seema Vennam, this inspiring panel uplifts women’s stories about using change as a catalyst for taking the necessary risks to be their creative and human selves.