Writing Fire: An Anthology Celebrating the Power of Women's Words

Jennifer Browdy grew up in Manhattan and spent weekends in the Berkshires as a child. After earning her B.A. in English and Journalism from Bard College at Simon's Rock, she worked as a professional journalist for several years in the Berkshires and New York City before returning to academia to earn her M.A. and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from New York University in 1994. An Associate Professor of Comparative Literature, Gender Studies and Media Studies at Bard College at Simon's Rock, Jennifer engages students in issues of global social and environmental justice through writing, literature and digital media. Since 2002, Jennifer has hosted an annual conference in observance of International Women's Day and in 2011 she founded the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers to cultivate the voices and visions of women writers of all ages and many walks of life in the Berkshire region. Jennifer has published widely on women's world literature, and is the editor of two other anthologies of women's writing, Women Writing Resistance in Latin America and the Caribbean (Beacon Press, 2017) and African Women Writing Resistance (University of Wisconsin Press, 2011). She has published widely in academic compilations and journals, as well as The Berkshire Edge, Berkshire Magazine and Yes! Magazine. Her memoir, What I Forgot....and Why I Remembered: A Journey to Environmental Awareness and Activism Through Purposeful Memoir, was published in 2017, along with a writer's guide for memoirists, The Elemental Journey of Purposeful Memoir: A Writer's Companion. She has presented papers and given lectures and workshops at numerous conferences at colleges, universities and other venues nationwide. Her blog, Transition Times, dedicated to exploring issues of social and environmental justice from a personal perspective, has received more than 130,000 visitors from all over the world in its first five years. She offers workshops, author coaching and editing services for memoirists at every stage of their writing journey.

Jana Laiz grew up in White Plains, NY and spent weekends in the Berkshires as a teenager. She earned a Bachelor's degree from New York University in Chinese Language and Anthropology, an advanced degree in Chinese from Middlebury College and a Master's in Education from Westfield State College. She served as a refugee resettlement counselor for the International Rescue Committee until 1986, when she moved to the Berkshires and began to take her passion for writing seriously. She is the author of the triple award-winning novel, Weeping Under This Same Moon (Moonbeam Silver Medal Winner and ForeWord Reviews Book of The Year Award nominee); The Twelfth Stone; Elephants of the Tsunami; Thomas & Autumn; and the co-author of A Free Woman On God's Earth, The True Story of Elizabeth "Mumbet" Freeman, The Slave Who Won Her Freedom, optioned to be a feature film, Simon Says; Tails Told By The Red Lion Inn Ambassador. In 2007, Jana formed Crow Flies Press and published these and other award winning titles. She has produced audio books with Audible.com and is currently working with Alison Larkin Presents and the Jane Austen Literary Foundation to produce the audiobook for Weeping Under This Same Moon. She is the very first Writer-In-Residence at Herman Melville's beloved Arrowhead. Jana is currently working on the sequel to The Twelfth Stone, a new novel about teaching ESL and the immigrant experience as well as a juvenile biography of Herman Melville; Billy Budd In The Breadbox. Her picture book, Blanket of Stars will be out soon. She is passionate about our beautiful planet and endeavors to make a difference in the world through her writing and to work with others who feel the same. Jana continues to teach English locally and writing everywhere. She lives in a 200-year-old farmhouse in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.

Sahra Bateson Brubeck earned her B.A. from Bard College at Simon's Rock in 2014, majoring in Creative Writing with a minor in African American Studies. Her most recent creative work focuses mainly on the tradition of retelling and rewriting ancient myths. She strives to shed light on the convoluted histories and stories of ancient Greek Goddesses, often rearranging and repositioning the interpersonal dynamics that originally comprised the ancient myths, in an effort to add depth to the stories' notions of power and femininity.