"Awakenings: Stories of Body and Consciousness" Multi-Author reading!

Deirdre Fagan, Terry Opalek, and Wendy Parman, three of the contributors for the book Awakenings: Stories of Body and Consciousness, will be in store at The Book Cellar discussing and doing readings from the anthology!

About the Book:

What happens when 49 authors sit down to craft their experiences of living in a body? Magic! Curated by Diane Gottlieb, with a foreword by Gayle Brandeis, Awakenings: Stories of Bodies & Consciousness is truly a magical anthology of short essays, filled with trauma and triumph; pleasures and pain; challenges, resilience, and growth. A host of seasoned writers, including Alison McGhee, Jesse Lee Kercheval, and Jacqueline Doyle, alongside emerging artists, such as Camille U. Adams, Terry Opalek, and Sarita Sidhu, share their hearts, their limbs, their breasts—even their teeth!—on the page in this singularly stunning array of diverse voices, journeys, and literary forms. No matter where you turn in this tribute to the miracles, mishaps, and mysteries of the body, you will be moved. Awakenings will sometimes make you laugh, often make you cry, and will always spur a deep appreciation for the flesh and bones that carry us all through life.

About the Contributors:

Deirdre Fagan is the author of a poetry collection, Phantom Limbs (2023), an award-winning memoir, Find a Place for Me: Embracing Love and Life in the Face of Death (2022), an award-finalist short story collection, The Grief Eater (2020), a chapbook of poetry, Have Love (2019), and a reference book, Critical Companion to Robert Frost (2007). She is a widow, wife, mother of two and professor and coordinator of creative writing at Ferris State University.

Terry Opalek is a first-time published author in Awakenings. He is an Intuitive Coach, Compassionate Integrity Trainer, Workshop Developer &Facilitator with Integrating Spirituality in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Terry is also a Certified Reiki Master/Teacher and Herbalist. He enjoys cycling, travel and is a Butterfly Whisperer.  Terry is working on his memoir in essay. He lives in Chicago with his husband of 33 years.

Wendy Parman is both a performer and author with a thriving voice studio in Chicago. Her essay about singing in a rock band with her ex was recently published in Dorothy Parker’s Ashes. Most recently she performed her songs and stories in a one-woman show, “Mid-Century Tales.” Her works include a musical memoir, "Fragments of Heartbreak..." and a musical comedy on Youtube, “Callle's Solo Web Series.” She’s currently working on a thinly disguised memoir, when she isn’t chasing after her kitten, Felina Furrante.