Expats, Migrants, Nomads: Rethinking the Immigrant Narrative in the 21st Century. (Mieke Eerkens, Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Huan Hsu, Reyna Grande) B116, Oregon Convention Center, Level 1.

Immigration narratives of the 19th and 20th centuries often involve cliché themes such as "the American dream” and rigid immigrant identities. Contemporary first- and second-generation immigrant writers are often more likely to identify with fluid identities—recrossing borders figuratively and literally—rather than with static, one-dimensional states of emigrant/immigrant.This panel reexamines this narrative in the 21st century. Panelists discuss how the immigrant story has evolved and become more complex.