There are two love stories we’re honored to share with a world that needs love—one by Callie Feyen and one by William Shakespeare, that’s annotated by Callie Feyen.
We first met Callie when she read Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing and thought to thank the author for writing it. That was several years ago. Since then, Callie has become a popular article writer here at Tweetspeak and elsewhere. Now, we’re so pleased that she’s also become one of our T. S. Poetry Press authors, twice over in a single week.
And? This is the week, with the release of two very special books that are each, in their own ways, love stories.
The first is a poignant memoir called The Teacher Diaries: Romeo & Juliet. The second is Romeo & Juliet, by William Shakespeare, which Callie has provided two accompanying essays and activities for, as well as personal annotations throughout. In this special volume of the Shakespeare play, Callie is joined by three other women: Sara Barkat, as the volume’s editor and essay contributor, and Hannah Haney and Karen Swallow Prior as essay contributors.
You can find both titles available in print editions on Amazon, and we hope you do—and share them with a world that truly needs love. Also, please join us in offering a big congratulation to Callie, Sara, Hannah, and Karen.
Praise for The Teacher Diaries: Romeo & Juliet
This is a book about being a teacher, and about being a mother, and, in its way, about being a writer. But it is most fully a depiction of living with a work of literature, about the conversations literature can spark and the memories literature can hold and reconfigure. The acknowledgments suggest that writing this book helped Callie Feyen remember why she loved teaching. Reading it made me remember why I love to read.
—Lauren Winner, bestselling author and Associate Professor, Duke Divinity School
Callie Feyen’s warm, funny, and deeply felt reflections on teaching Romeo and Juliet to eighth graders took me back to that moment where my own junior high teacher’s line-by-line slog through the play led to my conversion experience to the wonders of great literature. Here is a book that will not only encourage and inspire other teachers but thrill anyone who knows how profoundly literature can awaken and shape the soul.
—Gregory Wolfe, Editor, Image
Callie Feyen is not just a writer, she is a weaver. She seamlessly threads her past, her students’ experiences, and the timeless tale of Romeo and Juliet into a story of growth and remembrance. She brings the ache of early teenhood to life, and I was transported along with her students every step of the way. Honestly, 8th grade would have been better if she had been my guide.
—Stephanie Stearns Dulli, Director Listen To Your Mother Show DC
Callie Feyen’s students are blessed, as are the teachers who will read her book (and their own students, who will in turn benefit from it). But more than that, there’s the special excitement of reading the first memoir of a young writer with a compelling voice. Brava!
—John Wilson, Editor, Books & Culture, 1995-2016
Educators and parents alike are desperate for ways to engage students in meaningful ways, while also fulfilling their obligation to meet standards and produce outcomes. And this is why a book like this one matters.
Feyen weaves memoir with educational strategy, presenting it with humor, empathy, and an urgency that helps us see the relevance of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy. Presented with love, kindness, and sympathy, the book is a valiant corrective for so many of the worst trends in contemporary educational policy.
If you are a teacher who wants to do more than teach to the test, Feyen will give you hope: there is a way to give yourself fully, to be creative in the classroom, and to honor the material as well as the outcomes.
—Cara Gabriel, Assistant Professor, Department of Performing Arts at American University
Featured photo by Theo Crazzolara, Creative Commons, via Flickr. Book photos by Sonia Joie. Used with permission.
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Laura Lynn Brown says
What an exciting day. Congratulations to Callie, and Tweetspeak. I think Shakespeare would get a kick out of these being issued on Valentine’s Day.
Maureen says
Wonderful! Congratulations to all!
L.L. Barkat says
Lauren Winner, John Wilson, and Gregory Wolfe, all endorsed? Unheard of for a debut author. Your storytelling obviously has captured more than a few hearts.
Honored to have you as a writer here at Tweetspeak and as an author, now, with T. S. Poetry Press.
I hope these books change many lives, Callie—helping students and teachers and parents and ordinary people of all kinds to embrace the power of literature and the true depth of what teaching-and-learning can be about—and not just in middle school, but for life. 🙂
Sandra Heska King says
Best Valentine’s Day gift ever. Not just for Callie but for those of us who get unwrap her words. This makes me so happy.
Donna Falcone says
I’m so excited about these books and I am thoroughly enjoying The Teacher Diaries! Contratulations, Callie! It’s quite an experience – you have invited us into your classroom, your home, your childhood…. every image and emotion is so accessible.
I read slowly, so am only half way through, but hope to jump into the pages as soon as I poor my nice hot cup of coffee…. in 3…. 2…. 1….. ahhhhh
Many congrats to Sara, too, and to all of her wonderful essayists! I’m looking forward to this book, too! 🙂 Makes me happy to feel the happiness around the newest members of the T.S. Poetry Press titles!
More, please! 😉
Donna Falcone says
I rode every emotion through the pages. I was a teacher, a parent, a child. I had memories, and I saw ghosts, and all I can say is I truly loved this book…. I needed it like you can’t even believe… I needed the last line and everything leading to it. Thank you Callie Feyen… again I say More, Please!
Katie says
Can’t wait to read these two new titles! Congrats, Callie & Co. 🙂