text:  We're having this evening at a moment when it feels like the world is ending. But as I tell my writing students, the world has always been ending somewhere for someone. That's what the writing is for, to get us through. Writing is an act of resistance against all of those who try to tell you that there is no way forward, that every change is the last one. It's no coincidence that the stories you'll hear tonight are stories about sea changes in the world and in oneself.