FARMINGTON – The University of Maine at Farmington will host this year’s Maine Women’s Studies Conference on Saturday, Oct. 11. The day-long conference, titled Wielding Words: The Writer as Activist, features a series of workshop style sessions that will focus on the role the published word plays in activism.

The Maine Women’s Studies Conference will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in North Dining Hall, located in UMF’s Olsen Student Center.

The keynote speakers for the conference are former deputy minister of health for the Egyptian government Dr. Nawal El Saadawi, and medical doctor and writer Dr. Sherif Hetata.

Conference attendees may choose from five morning sessions and four afternoon sessions offering topics such as using written materials as tools for grassroots organizing, poetry as activism, activism on the Web, creativity and dissidence, and a hands-on workshop titled Making Art about Conflict.

The morning sessions will be followed by lunch and a keynote address by Saadawi and Hetata.

Saadawi, a psychiatrist, writer and professor, was imprisoned for her political beliefs and writing by former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. She was released after four years and remains a strong supporter of human rights and women’s rights in Islam.

Hetata has written on topics that include travel, politics and health but now concentrates mainly on novels and translations. He has translated a number of books written by his wife, Dr. Nawal El Saadawi.

Saadawi and Hetata are both visiting Libra Scholars at the University of Southern Maine’s College of Arts and Sciences.

The cost for the conference is $25 per person and includes lunch. Registration for UMF students is free and $8 for students from other colleges.

For more information about the Maine Women’s Studies Conference, phone the University of Maine at Farmington’s Women’s Studies Program at 778-7387.

The conference agenda, directions and registration forms are online at the conference Web site: http://www.writeactivist.umf.maine.edu

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