Mike Parker: Poet featured at April 18 ‘Artist Talk’
Stephanie Brea is a poet whose work centers on community engagement. She will be the featured artist at the “Artist Talk,” scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 18, at the smART Gallery at 210 North Queen Street. What choice could be more fitting for National Poetry Month?
Stephanie’s work has been published by various small presses and in poetry anthologies. She was a staff writer for an invention company, briefly copy-edited for Alternative Press magazine, interviewed the infamous groundhog weather prognosticator Punxsutawney Phil, and currently is a process analyst/technical writer for an ambulance billing company.
Her public writing projects include an interactive map of Pittsburgh neighborhood poems, bioetry, which explores science-based poetry and art, and Pizza Poems PGH, a project that delivers fresh, hot poems on pizza boxes for National Poetry Month.
She spent many years teaching creative writing in classrooms and after-school settings, with a primary focus on craft, courage, and community.
In 2012, Larissa Dudkiewicz, a staff member of the online publication “Patch” of Sewickley, PA, interviewed Stephanie for an article titled “Stephanie Brea Talks Creative Writing, Courage and Community.” During that interview, Stephanie revealed what inspired her to begin writing and what shaped her writing style.
“I have been writing since I was in elementary school, and I like to confess that my first stories were typed on an old typewriter and frequently featured Victorian girls, tea parties, and galloping horses. I always share this because everyone starts somewhere,” Stephanie said.
“My writing style was heavily shaped by the writing classes that I took at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, and I find myself influenced and inspired by local writer Lori Jakiela especially,” she continued. “I am honored I had the opportunity to work with her.”
She explained that she had read a quote about Pittsburgh not only being a city of bridges but also of writers.
“This is so true,” she said. “There’s an incredible literary community in our city, lots of events and opportunities, and I had lots of exposure to an incredibly talented group of folks early on.”
Her upbringing significantly influenced the development of her style and voice. Her work reflects her background, upbringing, and everyday experiences.
“I come from a blue-collar, working-class family,” she told Dudkiewicz. “My dad was a welder, and my mom, a secretary. I worked in crappy food service jobs at 16. I used to say that I envisioned my work as poetry for everyone.
“I wanted the woman I worked with at the local bookstore, my grandmother, my high-school dropout friends to read these poems and be able to understand and enjoy poetry, to realize that it wasn’t this lofty intellectual pursuit, a page-long stream of ambiguity.”
She self-published a poetry chapbook in 2004 and has continued to receive acceptance letters for both her poems and essays in the years since.
“Too often, creative writing is eliminated from lesson plans and extracurriculars, and students find themselves with no means of digging deeper into their writing life,” she said. “I like to say I focus on writing craft, courage, and community.
“While I believe that craft is important, I also think that courage to read your work aloud or submit for publication is just as valuable because it builds confidence. Much of what I focus on can be translated into life skills, not just writing skills. Even if you decide to abandon writing for a career in statistics or environmental engineering, you are still going to have to stand in front of people, convey your thoughts, and put yourself out into the world. And as a young person, finding a community of like-minded peers can make a huge difference during those awkward years when you feel alone and alienated.”
Come to the “Artist Talk” at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 18, at the smART Gallery to see Stephanie in action.
Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
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