[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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Kumulipo
Hawaiian creation chant
At the time that turned the heat of the earth,
From “Kumulipo” by Queen Liliuokalani
At the time when the heavens turned and changed,
At the time when the light of the sun was subdued
To cause light to break forth,
At the time of the night of Makalii (winter)
Then began the slime which established the earth,
The source of deepest darkness.
Of the depth of darkness, of the depth of darkness,
Of the darkness of the sun, in the depth of night,
It is night,
So was night born
I am fascinated by origin stories. I am fascinated by our human need to understand how it all began. I am fascinated by our capacity to hold it all — the mythic and the scientific — in our hands.
Our origin stories have power. Understanding our origin feels important in the way a tree must have roots, maps guide, and miracles manifest. We are all born, individually. Origin stories speak to a universal birth of all things. Looking across origin stories allows us to examine how we came to be, who we are, and where we may go.
In thinking specifically about Hawaii, and the closeness I felt to the origin of all that is when there, a few things make sense. Night, day, firmament, ocean, and sky all flow together. Each day reveals something so awesome. A creation chant attempts to capture the force and beauty of our earth.
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.
