Photo Credit: Nico Savoia Photography
third person
Bridgette Shade has been teaching writing with an emphasis on social justice since 2002. She is the co-founder of West Side Stories, a literary reading series celebrating the words of writers with a western Pennsylvania connection. Her own words have been recognized by the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, the Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction, the Meyerson Fiction Prize, the Betty Gabehart Prize, The Salamander Fiction Prize, Portable Story Series, and the Dana Awards.
That look on her face says, “I See You.”
Second Person
You were not supposed to be scratching. When you were nine, you broke your right arm (your writing arm) while roller skating on the street in front of your house. For months, you wore a cast that stretched from your wrist to the middle of your bicep, and you did not scratch. You did not introduce foreign objects to your cast until one ordinary day, you surrendered. You wedged a pen between your skin and its papier-mâché prison. There were no witnesses, and the relief was exquisite.
The story might have ended there had the pen not left its cap behind.
First person
I love chalk and chalkboards. Pencils and pens and letters that arrive in the mail. Typewriters and turntables and the sound the spine makes, the sound of a library waking, when I open a new book. I love Charlotte’s Web and the thousands of people whose stories I’ve been gifted to experience through my work as a teacher and as a writing coach. I love reading out loud and the way revision feels on my fingertips. Meatballs and Dinah Washington. Whistling and Willie Nelson. My family. Red wine and black tea and Willie Stargell.
And the raised scar on my right arm (my writing arm) in the perfect shape of a pen cap.
Bridgette Shade teaches writing with an emphasis on social justice. She believes in the power of positive language, of words--when well chosen--that empower us to transform outrage into outreach and apathy into action.
“Bridgette is an inspiring and gifted mentor and editor. She is not only highly effective at communicating ways to improve your craft and creative productivity but is savvy about publishing opportunities and will guide you to fruitful places to submit both non-fiction and fiction. She is flexible and encouraging while being mindful of holding the author accountable to deadlines and structure. I greatly appreciate her talent, humor, and professionalism.”
“Working with Bridgette was invigorating. From our first call to our final email, Bridgette was actively supportive of my project and tailored the process to meet my specific writing goals. Her investment of time was evident in her prompt email responses, productive phone calls, and detailed feedback, which was always the perfect balance of encouraging and constructive. Rather than simply making notes on my writing in red pen and calling it a day, she engaged me in exercises that allowed me to grow as a writer. Specifically, Bridgette asked questions that challenged me to think critically and figure out exactly what I wanted to say, not what I thought I was supposed to say. Bridgette guided me through the process of crafting an effective narrative, teaching me a writing approach I can apply to future projects. For this, I will be forever grateful. ”