Writing Professionals Panel
The Day Job: How To Make Money And Write And Not Lose Your Mind. There's a reason writers obsess about money: it's hard to come by in the literary business. All three panelists are accomplished novelists who also work other jobs: Amy Hassinger teaches at the University of Nebraska MFA in Writing Program and works as a freelance editor, Michelle Wildgen is a cofounder of the Madison Writers’ Studio and editor at Tin House Magazine, and Susan Gloss Parsons is an attorney and Etsy shop owner. The three will discuss their own successes and failures at making a living and making art, and how the two might even work together. We'll welcome questions and contributions from the audience.
Amy Hassinger
Amy Hassinger is the author of three novels: Nina: Adolescence, The Priest’s Madonna, and After the Dam. Her writing has been translated into five languages and has won awards from Creative Nonfiction, Publisher’s Weekly, and the Illinois Arts Council. She's placed her work in numerous venues, including The New York Times, Creative Nonfiction, The Writers’ Chronicle, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. Every week, she produces a micro-podcast called "The Literary Life," which highlights the work of Midwestern writers. She's a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, a Faculty Mentor in the University of Nebraska’s low-residency MFA in Writing Program, and a resident of Illinois.
Michelle Wildgen
Michelle Wildgen’s fourth novel will be published by Zibby Books in August 2023. Her first novel, You’re Not You, was adapted into a feature film starring Hilary Swank and Emmy Rossum. Her work has appeared in the New York Times Book Review and Modern Love, O Magazine, RealSimple.com, Best Food Writing, and elsewhere. A former executive editor with the award-winning literary journal Tin House, she is a freelance editor and creative writing teacher in Madison, Wis. Her featured novel is Wine People.
Susan Gloss
Susan Gloss is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin Law School. When she's not writing fiction, Susan can be found working as an attorney, blogging at GlossingOverIt.com, or hunting for vintage treasures for her Etsy shop, Cleverly Curated. She lives with her family in Madison, Wisconsin.