[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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Clarity
Clarity is just questioning haven eaten its fill
Jenny Xi
Clarity is seductive. I am not exactly sure why that is so. Perhaps because clarity is sure footedness in a quicksand world. Perhaps because clarity is definitively sexy, like peace of mind and good sleep. Perhaps because clarity connotes satiation for the hungry.
I have always been a little skeptical of clarity. I prefer curiosity. Not that the two are opposites, but what if they were? Curiosity feels like an open window, whereas clarity feels like a shut door. Curiosity feels like a beginning, whereas clarity feels like an end. Curiosity feels like a question mark, whereas clarity feels like a period. I am comfortable with question marks. Question marks feel honest. My researchers gaze sees through the smoke screen periods often provide.
I like the idea that clarity is a fluid state into which we enter in and out. Fluidity and flexibility make sense to me. I crave clarity — like I crave bread and potatoes — but a meal of bread and potatoes ultimately is not satisfying. Clarity is similarly unsatisfying. I know the hunger will return.
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.
