Panel: Sympathy for All Devils (Lina Maria Ferreira Cabeza-Venegas, Sarah Viren, Kerry Howley, Patricia Foster) Though unsympathetic narrators are common in fiction, there’s still an expectation that the essayist, and in particular the woman essayist, tread lightly and not only be sympathetic, but also avoid the unsympathetic. Panelists discuss the genre history and gender bias underlining these expectations, our experiences being unsympathetic essayists and empathizing with unsympathetic characters—from combatants to murderers—and what we stand to gain from sympathizing with the devil.