Guest Author Amy Fusselman (L) with Corrie Driebusch and Nahima Uddin (R), a pair in our Digital Media Mentoring Program, at CHAPTERS, March 21 2014
Our annual CHAPTERS Reading Series is where our girls and mentors get to take their writing from the page to the stage. It’s always a thrill to see a mentee step up to the mic and take a deep breath before launching into her piece, whether it’s her first time in the spotlight or her fourth.
If you made it to our first reading in March, you know exactly what we’re talking about: it’s the magic of live performance, of fresh, personal writing taking on a new life right in front of your very eyes.
If you didn’t make it, don’t fret – Elshaima, Stacie, and Amy shared their experiences on the blog so you won’t miss a thing, plus save the date for the rest of the series! Join us April 25 with Farai Chideya; May 30 with Ana Castillo; and June 20 with Christina Baker Kline.
A Mentor and mentee share the stage – for the first time
Elshaima is a first year mentee in our Writing & Mentoring Program, and was joined on stage by her mentor Stacie. They wrote about their experiences at Scholastic for the blog, from pre-event jitters to wanting to read again:
Elshaima: Stacie and I always talk about culture, family and friends. So we were talking about experiences about fake friends, and we decided to write a piece together. We talked about bad friendships as a teenager and when you’re an adult.
Stacie: In the end, Shaima wrote a poem, and I wrote a piece of memoir. We wrote about the same topic, and it was interesting to me to see how similar our feelings were.
Read the full post >
A Seasoned Pro shares her story
Elshaima and Stacie were joined on stage by Guest Author Amy Fusselman, who told her story of how she became a writer, and how writing let her channel her voice and stories. Amy even shared some of her upcoming book Savage Park with us – her first public reading of the work! Check out her side of the story:
This was a reading that acknowledged the hard work that the girls and their mentors had done to craft their pieces, and the courage it takes to step up to the mike and share those words. Those things are generally taken for granted in a reading, and it was moving to me to see these parts of the process highlighted and applauded. Read the full post >
