How much of a true story is actually "true"? This panel explores the boundary between factual recording and literary creation in poetry and memoir writing. While history demands strict facts, the human heart relies on emotional truth. Memory is famously selective, fragmented, and prone to revision over time. Our participating authors will discuss how they navigate the ethical dilemmas of reconstructing dialogue from decades ago, compressing timelines, and filling in the gaps of lost history to shape raw experience into a compelling narrative arc.
Dr. Juanita Kirton is a Black, gay African American writer who earned her MFA from Goddard College. Her work has been published recently in AVOW (American Veterans Women Magazine), Stillwater Review, Stone Canoe, and Veterans Voices. Juanita is a member of Women Who Write, the International Women’s Writing Guild (IWWG), and Women Reading Aloud. She facilitates writing workshops for Warrior Writers and served as a teaching artist with Crossing Point Arts. Her chapbook, Letters to My Father, was published in 2020. Her forthcoming book from Pink Trees Press is titled Charred Sugar in My Bones. Instagram: @juanita.kirton.3
Linda Kleinbub is founding editor of Pink Trees Press, curator of Fahrenheit Open Mic & founder of Pen Pal Poets. She’s an award-winning poet and author of Appear to Dance, Cover Charge, and co-editor of Silver Tongued Devil Anthology. Linda was one of six local poets invited to read at the Americas Poetry Festival of New York 2021. Some of her work can be found in The Best American Poetry, Brooklyn Rail, Sensitive Skin Magazine, and multiple anthologies. Instagram: @pinktreespress, @LindaKleinbub
Ron Kolm is a contributing editor of Sensitive Skin. Ron is the author of Divine Comedy, Suburban Ambush, A Change in the Weather, Welcome to the Barbecue, and Swimming in the Shallow End. He's had work in the Brownstone Poets anthologies, Gathering of the Tribes, Great Weather for Media, Maintenant, Live Mag!, Local Knowledge, the Poets of Queens, The Red Wheelbarrow, and the Riverside Poets. Ron’s papers were purchased by the New York University Library. Instagram: @ron_kolm
Jane Lecroy is a poet, singer, performance artist, and home-birthing mother of 3, who fronts the avant-pop band, The Icebergs, and Ω▽Ohmslice. She performs as a featured character in the Poetry Brothel NYC. Her publications and recordings include Spellbook of Ordinary Mistakes (Pink Tree Press), Signature Play (Three Rooms Press), and the chapbook, Names (Booklyn) purchased by the Library of Congress along with her braid! Jane teaches poetry all over NYC and publishes student work. Instagram: @janelecroy @the_icebergs_nyc @ohmslice.nyc
C.O. Moed grew up on New York’s Lower East Side when it was still a tough neighborhood. An alum from the groundbreaking East Village WOW Café and a recipient of the Elizabeth George Fiction Grant, her award-winning debut memoir, It Was Her New York: True Stories and Snapshots was a BookLife Editor's Pick, and quarterfinalist in the BookLife Prize in Memoir, as well as Firebird Book Competition’s Judge’s Pick, among others. Instagram: @comoed0912
