Edited by Ruth Farmer and Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Transformative Language Arts, an emerging field and profession, calls on us to use writing, storytelling, theater, music, expressive and other arts for social change, personal growth, and culture shift. In this landmark anthology, Transformative Language Artists share their stories, scholarship and practices for a more just and peaceful world, from a Hmong storyteller and spoken word artist weaving traditions with contemporary immigrant challenges in Philadelphia, to a playwright raising awareness of AIDS/HIV prevention.
Read the stories, consider the questions raised, and find inspiration and tools in using words as a vehicle for transformation through essays on the challenge of dominant stories, public housing women writing for their lives, histories and communities at the margins, singing as political action, the convergence of theology and poetics, women's self-leadership, embodied writing, and healing the self, others, and nature through TLA.
The anthology also includes "snapshots," short features on transformative language artists who make their livings and lives working with people of all ages and backgrounds to speak their truths, and change their communities.

Introduction-Ruth Farmer and Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
1.A Snake in the Grass: Challenges of Dominant Stories-James Sparrell
Snapshot: Sherry Reiter, Poetry Therapy Pioneer, Educator, Clinical Social Worker, Writer, Storyteller
Snapshot: Seema Reza, Recreational Arts Program Coordinator at Military Hospitals, Poet and Writer
2. "Everyone's Life is a Book": Public Housing Women Write for Their Lives-Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
Snapshot: Vanita Leatherwood, Writer, Facilitator, and Director of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Center
Snapshot: Heather Severson, Writer, Workshop Model Developer, and Facilitator
3.Holding the Space: TLA Values in Education-Ruth Farmer
Snapshot: Patricia Fontaine, Writer, and Facilitator of Workshops for People Living with Cancer
Snapshot: Nancy Morgan, Arts and Humanities Director at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
4.Youth, Writing, and Identity: An Interview with Sarah W. Bartlett Ruth Farmer
Snapshot: Suzanne Adams, Workshop Facilitator for Adolescent Girls, and Writer
Snapshot: Minna Dubin, Workshop Facilitator for Women and Youth, and Writer
5.Zamlers, Tricksters, and Queers: Re-Mixing Histories in Yiddishland and Faerieland-Ezra Nepon Berkley
Snapshot: Miriam Gabriel, Blogger, and Spoken Word Artist
Snapshot: Ruth Gendler, Writer, Artist, and Facilitator of Workshops for Children and Adults
6.Performing for Social Change: Interviews with Kao Kue, Taina Asili, and Katt Lissard- Ruth Farmer
Snapshot: Kelley Hunt, Singer-Songwriter, International Teaching and Touring Artist Snapshot: Deb Hensley, Singer-Songwriter, Writer, Consultant, Facilitator and TLA Network Coordinator
7.Theopoetics as a Spiritual Form of Transformative Language Arts Callid Keefe-Perry
Snapshot: Larry Greer, Interfaith Minister and Pastoral Coordinator
Snapshot: Joanna Tebbs Young, Writer, Columnist, Expressive Writing and Spirituality Workshop Facilitator, and Workshop Developer
8.Women's Self-Leadership Through Transformative Narratives-Yvette Angelique Hyater-Adams
Snapshot: Lisa McIvor, Home Health Nurse, Workshop Facilitator for People With Disabilities, Poet and Writer
Snapshot: Jen Cross, Writer and Erotic Writer, Facilitator of Workshops for Survivors of Sexual Violence and for Erotic Writing
Snapshot: Angie River, Spoken Word and Burlesque Artist
9.Autobiography of a Social Body-Juliana Borrero
Snapshot: Richard Hodgson, writer, storyteller, and workshop facilitator for elders
Snapshot: Scott Youmans, Seminarian, Web Consultant, Writer and Facilitator
10.Deep Connection: Healing Self, Others, and Nature through Transformative Language Arts-Brian W. Sunset
Resources
Contributors & Editors