by Mary E. Cronin | Aug 1, 2015 | Community connections, LGBTQ+, Teaching, We Need Diverse Books
Have you heard about Rainbow Boxes? It’s a way to get sorely needed books into the hands of LGBTQ+ youth. Flashback to a scene in a middle school library about six years ago: the school counselor, who happens to be my wife, was showing me the section in the...
by Mary E. Cronin | May 27, 2015 | Conferences-workshops, LGBTQ+, Middle-grade fiction, Teaching, We Need Diverse Books
What a delight to contribute a guest post on Lee Wind’s dynamic blog I’m Here, I’m Queer, What the Hell Do I Read? I have tips for middle grade writers who want to create multi-dimensional gay/questioning characters in their stories. Lee is an...
by Mary E. Cronin | May 21, 2015 | Community connections, Poetry, Teaching, Uncategorized, We Need Diverse Books
I recently received a bundle of letters from the kids at St. Luke’s School in the South Bronx. I delivered a poetry presentation there in the spring, using Jacqueline Woodson’s BROWN GIRL DREAMING and Kwame Alexander’s THE CROSSOVER as mentor texts....
by Mary E. Cronin | Mar 3, 2015 | Community connections, Teaching
A friend of mine recently used the term “writing as service.” Bells starting chiming in my brain. Writing can be seen as many things: a creative outlet, a hobby or job, a business and source of income, a way of connecting to others. But the concept of writing as a way...
by Mary E. Cronin | Dec 12, 2014 | Teaching
Like most writers, I crave quiet time to get lost in my latest project and just let the words flow. Yet it’s my time in the world, especially my teaching time, that feeds my spirit and sense of connection. I teach creative writing in the women’s unit at the Barnstable...