[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!
Melanie Faith
Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.
Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.
The Society of Professional Journalists
In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.
I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.
Maxine Greene
Philosopher and Education Scholar
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Blossom
Eastside Trail
Eastside Trail extension at Wylie Street
Blossom sits just after I finish two miles on my usual Beltline path. It occurs when I have lots of trail left to cover. (Not sure why that particular place is a decision point, but it always feels like a place that asks me to lean in, go, and worry about aches and pains tomorrow.) This piece is whimsical at a time when whimsy is needed. This piece is beautiful at a time when my feet swell and my head aches. This piece marks progress at a time when I generally want to give up. A combination of skateboards and sunshine lift my spirits. Yellow always makes me feel better, too. In the midst of monkey mind chatter, Blossom reminds me to make the most of what I have been given. To find sunshine around every corner. To build things with whatever I have: scraps, paint, creativity. To be “yes” in a world of “no.” I am grateful for Blossom moments. I am grateful for forks in roads that present choices. I am grateful for light in dark — it helps me see beauty in it all. I am grateful for repurposed steel — it makes me comfortable with my continued journey of repurposing and reimagining.
About Katie
From Louisville. Live in Atlanta. Curious by nature. Researcher by education. Writer by practice. Grateful heart by desire.
Buy the Book!
The Stage Is On Fire, a memoir about hope and change, reasons for voyaging, and dreams burning down can be purchased on Amazon.
