This Video Portfolio features clips from two of Stephanie’s recent performances:
* “All the Agents and Saints,” held at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee on October 18, 2018. Based on her 2017 book of the same name, this keynote explores the ramifications of having an international borderline split an ancestral land in two, as experienced by the Tejanos of the Texas/Mexico borderlands and Mohawks of the Akwesasne Nation at the New York/Canada borderlands.
* “Art Above Everything,” held at the 2018 NonfictioNow Conference in Phoenix, Arizona on November 3, 2018. This keynote follows her 12-nation journey to interview artists about the value of living an art-focused life—and her own reflections on the matter.
Here is what recent hosts have said about Stephanie’s visits:
“Stephanie Elizondo Griest is one of the most dynamic public speakers I know – full of vitality and urgency, passionate without being strident. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing her speak on a number of occasions and she never fails to leave an audience mesmerized by her powerful words, as she did as a keynote speaker in November 2018 at the NonfictioNOW Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Her work is deeply felt and investigated, especially as she examines the “border that runs through her” and the geographical borders of the U.S.”
— Robin Hemley
Author and Founder, NonfictioNOW Conference
“For a very long time, I had been wanting Stephanie to be a featured speaker at our university. I had taught several of her books in my Creative Nonfiction class and over the years she had been gracious with her time and skyped to my students about the writing craft. So when she published All the Agents and Saints, I thought it would be the perfect book to pitch for our campus Common Read and the time to share her to a greater number of people. Given current events, her visit to our campus was even more impactful: not just students and staff but many community members came together to hear her speak wisdom and hope when the world seemed to be coming apart. Women, in particular, left feeling empowered and on fire. Students felt inspired and motivated. And to me, she is not only a gifted writer and speaker, but a teaching artist sister friend lifting others up so that they too can find room to stand on their own.”
— Dr. Liza Ann Acosta
University Dean, North Park University
“Stephanie Elizondo Griest asks her audience, “what happens when an international border line runs through you?” and she answers in a collage of storytelling, visual wonder, and incantatory power. My students were awestruck and one student asked how she could “be like her.” It is a treat to have her visit and to hear this amazing and vibrant writer.”
— O l i v e r d e l a P a z
Poet and Associate Professor of Creative Writing, College of the Holy Cross
“Stephanie Elizondo Griest reminds us of art’s urgency and necessity, especially in moments of great personal and political pain. Her talk compels us to remember the essential role women art-makers have in generating futures of hope during dangerous times.”
— Laurel Flores Fantauzzo
Author and Board Member, NonfictioNow Conference
Assistant Professor of English, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
“Stephanie Elizondo Griest’s campus visit could not have been more perfect for our students and their understanding of the current political landscape. Her newest book, All the Agents and Saints: Dispatches from the U.S. Borderlands, let them know that building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is not a good idea. Her essays set in Moscow helped them realize that there just might be a multitude of dots to connect between the Russian government and the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Beyond these topics, Stephanie writes about her own rich and complicated Latinx identity. In all three arenas, students feel as if they are with someone who has been there and is reporting back with credibility, eloquence, and passion.”
— Cassandra Kircher
Author and Professor of English, Elon University