[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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Weekly-Wide Awake: Actually Very Simple
He came back from halfway around the world like that,/ tongue tied around him like a scarf. Everything set before him/ set to bursting.
Jay Deshpande, Actually Very Simple
I came home from Bali tongue tied and bursting. Told by a healer there I did not need to carry the weight, I came home carrying flower offerings and peace instead. I came home from New Zealand drenched in ice blue sunshine and knowing more about my reason for voyaging. I came home from Spain having explored ancient caves and witnessed art I could not describe.
It is actually very simple. Travel changes us. I am not sure how far we have to go or how long we have to stay. I am not sure if we must travel alone or in a group. I am not sure how meticulously planned or spontaneous our travels must be. I am not sure if we have to see the world’s wonders or simply see something new to us.
What I know for sure is that a change of place changes our vision. A change of routine changes our chemistry. A change of culture changes our heart. A change of language changes our story. All that can happen anywhere, truly.
About Katie
Born in 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.
