On the heels of Bruce Jenner’s landmark TV interview, best-selling transgender memoirist Jennifer Finney Boylan earned a standing ovation after urging hundreds of independent writers to remember that their work matters and makes a difference, at the recent American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) writers conference. The conference was attended by more than 500 independent writers, editors, agents and publishers.
“What we do as tellers of stories can change the world and change lives,” declared Boylan, the keynote speaker at the 44th annual writers conference of the American Society of Journalists and Authors. “It may not seem that way when you’re coming up with a listicle for BuzzFeed… Sometimes when you’re in the weeds of this profession, we can lose track of that… But when people see or read a story, it becomes real.”
Boylan is the author of the 2003 memoir She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders, the first best-selling work by a transgender American, along with two other memoirs and 10 works of fiction.
“Jenny’s message is crucial for independent writers,” said freelance journalist Randy Dotinga, president of ASJA. “We often get distracted by the day-to-day grind and forget we hold tremendous power as storytellers. Our work can transform the world for the better.”
Boylan’s keynote speech featured readings from her work, a solo performance of lyrics from the Gordon Lightfoot song “Early Morning Rain” and a description of the moment in Nova Scotia where she nearly ended her life. She wants to tell her younger self: “It will get better. It will not always hurt the way it hurts now. The thing you feel is your greatest curse will some day, against all odds, turn out to be your great gift… Instead of walking off that cliff, I began the long journey toward home.”
Boylan’s May 1 speech inspired Dotinga, the first openly gay president of ASJA in its 67-year history, to reveal his own coming-out experience in a newsroom two decades ago. The ASJA has welcomed him to its ranks, he said: “For anyone who doesn’t fit in, I hope you fit in here.”
ASJA is making the recording of the keynote speech available to the public for free to to inspire writers. The recording is posted at the Society’s website.
