Join
us on July 21st at 5pm for an evening of poetry readings by the
children of Elm Tree Poetry.
About
the Program:
Elm
Tree Poetry is a place-based poetry program for children in and
around Prospect Park. We aim to foster a positive relationship with
poetry during early childhood, and to ignite an interest in the
literary arts. On July 21, Unnameable Books will be hosting Elm
Tree’s first poetry reading, featuring the works of our students,
on subjects ranging from the personal to the political.
Founders
and Teaching Artists:
Romy
Feder: Romy is a co-founder of Elm Tree Poetry. She
grew up on the Upper West Side of New York City. She earned her
bachelor’s degree at Pitzer College, Claremont, CA. in Media
Studies and Creative Writing. In 2011, she received a Fulbright
English Teaching Fellowship and taught at the University of Costa
Rica, San Jose. She led poetry workshops for students and faculty and
gave lectures on North American history and culture. She is a 2013
recipient of the Truman Capote Foundation Scholarship and a Graduate
Council Fellowship to study at the University of Alabama MFA in
poetry. She is currently attending Hunter College for her Master's in
Early Childhood Education. This upcoming school year, she will be a
full-time assistant teacher at the Williamsburg Neighborhood Nursery
School.
Rod
Bastanmehr: Rod grew up in Marin County, California.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in Film Theory and Cultural
Criticism from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and has been
writing professionally ever since. After graduating in 2011, he
worked as an Assistant Editor for a Bay Area metro newspaper before
moving to New York the following year. Since arriving, he has served
as a Copy Editor, a Managing Editor, and political blogger for a
number of publications. He currently writes about film and media for
VICE, and has contributed to The Atlantic, Salon, Slate, Los Angeles
Review Of Books and more. He has been nannying in and around Park
Slope for over two years, caring for children as young as six-months
and as old as twelve. He’s excited for the chance to gallivant
around the park with precocious kids.
Sally
Rodgers: Sally is a co-founder of Elm Tree Poetry. She
lives in Tucson, Arizona. For the past two years, she has taught at
the elementary and middle school levels with the IDEA School in
Tucson, Arizona. In the fall, she will begin a new position as the
Executive Director at a literary arts nonprofit called Casa Libre.
After earning her bachelor’s degree from Portland State University,
she worked for two years as a preschool teacher at Tucson’s Second
Street Children’s School. Her tenure at Second Street ended with a
move to Alabama where she received her MFA in poetry. She founded the
University of Alabama Writers in the Schools Program with her friend
Kenny Kruse. In this program, she acted as both Associate Director
and Director of Curriculum.
