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Thursday, March 12, 2026
Events Detail
The Keloids We Heal: Trauma, Spirituality, and Black Modernity in Literature by Sarah Soanirina Ohmer
25
Time: 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Location: Library- LI, Classroom A - Concourse Level - B27A
Audience: Faculty, Staff, Students
Admission: Registration is required.
Tickets: Click here
The corporeal and spiritual healing in literature by women of colors can be seen to redefine modern thought and printed text. Sarah Soanirina Ohmer traces impact of colonization and enslavement on Black women and Black women’s contributions to colonial, 19th and 20th century literature in the U.S., Brazil, and the Caribbean.
Drawing on intersectional analysis - Ohmer focuses on portrayals of trauma and spirituality in works by Toni Morrison, Conceição Evaristo, Maryse Condé, Gloria Anzaldúa, the Quilombhoje poets, and María de los Reyes Castillo.
Ohmer compares literature from different countries along four thematic pathways: ghosts, mirrors, naming, and motherhood. Her analysis unlocks literature’s power to heal through gut-wrenching descriptions of wounds and thrilling passages of hope and liberation.
Throughout, Ohmer weaves in her life story as a Black woman as she reflects on how colonialism, racism, sexism, and capitalism have impacted her work, traumas, and faith journey.
Sarah Soanirina Ohmer is Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Latin American and Latino Studies at Lehman College.