Earlier in June, after months of intense revision, I finally updated my commitment statement. It was a long time coming, as I returned to southern Appalachia and newly to Asheville—Cherokee Land in Western North Carolina (WNC)—back in 2024, ten weeks before Hurricane Helene hit. My writing has been coming slower since the move partly because of recovery and healing from the storm. Partly because of the time involved in putting down roots, building community, and ... Read more ...
identity
Forum Theatre: Using Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed to Build Receptive Competence
This post shares a reprint of a lesson plan “Forum Theatre: Using Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed to Build Receptive Competence” co-authored by Beth Godbee and Rasha Diab. In 2015, Beth Berilla assembled and published the website Contemplative Practices for Anti-Oppression Education, and we were not only grateful to be part of the collection but also regularly turned to and shared contemplative practices from the collection. Unfortunately, the website is no longer ... Read more ...
Mantras for Writers
I feel deep gratitude that my life allows me to write, to be in community with writers, to support writers, and to bring writing into the world. And part of being in writing community—writing with and alongside others—is knowing intimately how much can undercut and derail us as writers. Many pressures weigh on our writing and ourselves as writers. And, as writers, we often need inspiration to bring us back to writing. So, this post shares a form of inspiration: ... Read more ...
Coaching as a Way of Working with Fears
Recent coaching sessions have been addressing fear in one way or another. Surely, fear is pronounced in these times -- with threats coming from many directions; with uncertainty, suffering, and crisis amplified; and with cruelty, cuts, and a coup all central to everyday experiences. In this week's writing group, one member said that they're having to make decisions about how to show up at their institution, and this question aligned with questions I'm hearing in ... Read more ...
Q&A with Candace Epps-Robertson: On Seasons of Life, Writing, and Career
This interview introduces Candace Epps-Robertson, Ph.D., a collaborator with Heart-Head-Hands, facilitator of writing groups, and co-creator of the new offering, “Pathways Through Burnout: A Cohort Experience.” Candace is a writer, researcher, and educator with deep commitments to justice and more than twenty years of experience in literacy education. She is also Associate Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she ... Read more ...
Doing the Holidays Differently: Untangling from the Mythical Norm and Revising Rituals for “the Holiday Season”
Preface: This post took me more than six weeks to write. I started drafting on the winter solstice, so it feels right to publish on the cross-quarter day imbolc. I’ve needed the time to sit with the questions I share in this post—questions that are sure to keep evolving. I hope you’ll come with me on this journey into my spiritual life and desire to do the holidays differently. The Holidays Are Hard. Do They Have to Be? For me and for many of us, the holidays are hard. ... Read more ...
Q&A with Chloe de los Reyes: Teaching as Continued Learning and Unlearning
This interview with Chloe de los Reyes highlights connections among language and literacy education, lived experiences and positionalities, and striving for social justice. Chloe is a faculty member (Assistant Professor of English) at Crafton Hills College in Southern California. Prior to this position, she worked as and advocated for adjunct faculty for many years. We met almost two decades ago when both teaching and researching in campus writing centers. And we’ve ... Read more ...
