Charis welcomes Becca Spence Dobias in conversation with Katie Willis for a celebration of Dobias' debut novel, On Home. Though worlds and generations apart, three women search for meaning as they face impending motherhood and the pull to return home to rural Appalachia. This event is in partnership with the Burdock Book Collective, an intersectional feminist bookstore and community space.

When tragedy strikes, Cassidy, a cam girl living in Southern California, must return to the small West Virginia town she left behind. Cassidy likes her job getting naked for men on camera, though she prefers sex with women. She never came out to her family or friends back in her home state--not about her sexuality and certainly not about her sex work. Now, she must figure out how to hold on to the life she's built for herself while picking up the pieces of her fractured family.

As Cassidy's story unfolds, we glimpse into the lives of the strong, complicated women who came before her: Jane, the sheltered daughter of farmers, escapes West Virginia for Washington, DC to work as a Government Girl for the FBI during World War II, until a fateful mistake threatens her future. Paloma, a Fulbright Scholar, journeys to newly Westernized Prague--only to fall for an idealistic but safe man from West Virginia.

Becca Spence Dobias grew up in West Virginia and now lives in Southern California with her husband and two children. Her short stories have been featured in two Writing Bloc anthologies, "Inlandia: a Literary Journey," and A Short Guide to Finding Your First Home in the United States. On Home is her first novel.

Katie Willis (she/her), a native of Birmingham, AL, is a co-founder of Burdock Book Collective, an intersectional feminist bookstore that seeks to cultivate radically inclusive organizing and community space and co-runs The Alabama Books to Prisons Project. Katie is a queer farmer, activist, and student of mental health counseling, who reads voraciously about prison abolition, decolonizing therapy, and queer identity. In her free time, she can be found baking, experimenting with natural dyes and writing about her grandmother.

This event is free and open to all people, especially to those who have no income or low income right now, but we encourage and appreciate a solidarity donation in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Charis Circle's mission is to foster sustainable feminist communities, work for social justice, and encourage the expression of diverse and marginalized voices. https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/CharisCircle?code=chariscirclepage

We will be archiving this event and adding closed captioning as soon as possible after airing so that it will be accessible to deaf and HOH people. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don't hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. We are actively learning the best practices for this technology and we welcome your feedback as we begin this new way of connecting across distances.

By attending our virtual event you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to info@chariscircle.org immediately.

On Home: Becca Spence Dobias in conversation with Katie Willis