I was interviewed about We Had Mansions on the proVERSE podcast!

I used to think I didn’t want to teach at all. Then, I started teaching workshops for adults and loved it. But I hadn’t really thought about working with kids until the past year or so after my 12-year-old niece told me she wished I taught at her school because she thought I’d make a great teacher. So I started teaching workshops with tweens and teens, and it turns out, I love doing that too!

Realizing you have a love of teaching in (gesticulates wildly) these times is frightening because of rampant school shootings, crackdowns on censorship, and AI. Plus, nearly everyone I know who teaches at any level from kindergarten to college says they love the work—but loathe the bullshit from the administration. And if I were to teach, I’d have to go back to school, which Ohio’s SB 1 bill that guts academic freedom, has made untenable for me as a queer Palestinian leftist atheist.

Thus, I’m finding creative ways to support kids who love writing and storytelling. In addition to teaching workshops on live storytelling and public speaking (think The Moth), I’m judging writing contests and am busy writing lesson plans and reading discussion guides for my books because I heard they were being taught in classrooms. That’s why I was super excited when the teens behind the proVERSE podcast reached out to me about being on an episode!

The podcast is designed to inspire young people toward social justice and activism through poetry. Brilliant! They’re just getting started, and I can’t wait to see where it goes. If you’re an educator with poetry-loving students, send proVERSE their way!