I’m very excited that this month’s Author Next Door at Takoma’s Busboys and Poets will be featuring our books: Teaching with Fire, Leading from Within and Teaching with Heart.
I’ll be there with four local contributors to the books who will be reading their reflections on the poems they chose for the book: Linda Bowen, Chris Intagliata, Dennis Huffman and Eileen Quinn.
If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll come join us for a thoughtful and lively conversation about poetry and what gives meaning to your work and life! And enjoy the terrific food and drinks at Busboys.
Wednesday, May 22nd from 6:30-8:00pm at Busboys and Poets Takoma(235 Carroll St NW, Washington, DC – just blocks from the Takoma Metro).
Author Next Door
Here’s what Busboys posted about the event:
Join us for an evening with local authors Linda Bowen, Chris Intagliata, Megan Scribner & Eileen Quinn to discuss the books Teaching with Heart, Leading from Within and Teaching with Fire. Books will be available for purchase through Busboys and Poets Bookstore, and the authors will be signing copies after the discussion.
No tickets are required for this event, seats are first come, first served. Full menu and bar will be available for purchase throughout the event.
Teaching with Heart, Leading from Within and Teaching with Fire are all based on the premise that because poetry slows us down and focuses our attention—it can yield poignant insights into what is most significant and enduring in our work and life. For each of these anthologies, the editors asked teachers and leaders to write a short reflection on a poem that had meaning for them. The books include a rich variety of poems from a wide-range of poets, including Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson, William Stafford, Maya Angelou, Mary Oliver, Tupac Shakur, Pablo Neruda, Robert Frost, Rumi, and Wendell Berry, just to name a few.
Teaching with Fire honors and celebrates educators by giving voice to their stories and their struggle to work with integrity in a system that can often erode their passion and commitment. Leading from Within focuses on leaders knowing that leadership requires heart, courage, and wisdom, qualities that can be inspired and informed by poetry. Teaching with Heart highlights the heroic optimism of teachers and their belief that despite the many challenge and obstacles of the teaching life much is still possible.
These books also contain reflections from over 25 people who work or live in the area making these books a natural for the Authors Next Door event. In addition to Megan Scribner, co-editor/writer of the three volumes and resident of Takoma Park, you’ll hear from four local area residents who wrote reflections for the books and learn how you can share your own poetry reflection.
Linda Bowen is the Executive Director of the Institute for Community Peace (ICP), a national organization that seeks to transform community by changing the structures that cause social problems. She has led ICP for more than 20 years in researching, developing and implementing strategies that
target the intersection of structural violence and structural racism. Bowen’s work focuses on engaging residents of poor communities of color and their city partners in strategies that support structural change and community development.
Chris Intagliata spent more than 30 years as a writer and producer of nonfiction television and videos, including works for PBS, the History Channel, the Smithsonian Channel, and the Holocaust Memorial Museum. At the age of 59, she made what she calls her “lunatic decision” to become an elementary
school teacher. She is now completing her 7th year of teaching, the last five of which have been as a kindergarten and first grade special education teacher at Dorothy Height Elementary in DC.
Dennis Huffman grew up on an apple farm in Ohio and lives in Takoma Park, Maryland. Since 2000, he has led Prince George’s Community College at University Town Center, an off-campus center serving more than two thousand students each semester. Dennis is currently President of the National Association of Branch Campus Administrators (NABCA), a position he will hold through June, 2019. He is also a facilitator in preparation with the Center for Courage and Renewal, a sponsor of the three anthologies.
Megan Scribner has over thirty years of experience working as an editor and writer, designing and facilitating retreats and conferences, and organizing community, school, and fundraising events. In all these roles, she has focused on strengthening and lifting up the voices of others and building community and common cause. She created the Teaching with Heart, Fire & Poetry website to continue the conversation begun in the three poetry anthologies. She is also the co-organizer of the Takoma Park Book Fair and Program Coordinator at the International Leadership Association.
Eileen Quinn is the Advocacy and Communications Director for PATH’s Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access. She has over two decades of experience advancing issues at the intersection of science and public policy including public health, vaccine uptake, climate change, energy, and biotechnology. Prior to joining PATH, she was Deputy Director of the Alliance for Healthy Homes and Communications Director for the Union of Concerned Scientists. Previously, she was a producer at C-SPAN, producing the call-in talk shows and coverage of Congress and election campaigns.
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