Linda Drajem, Barbara Faust, Kathleen Shoemaker,
Innersessions

To celebrate publication of their recent collection of poems, Innersessions, Linda Drajem, Barbara Faust, and Kathleen Shoemaker will read from their work at Talking Leaves Main Street store on Wednesday, May 7, at 7 pm.   The reading is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a book signing. 

Innersessions is a collection of individual and shared poems by three Western New York women poets who have written alone and together for over ten years. All three writers are members of the local writing group Women of the Crooked Circle (WOCC).  Their voices meld and diverge as they illuminate family, stages of life, and the wider world. Using their unique perspectives, their poems echo and define their experiences, while standing alone and powerful in their own individual voices.

Linda Drajem taught in Buffalo Public Schools for many years as a high school English teacher, and as an instructor in the English Education department of Buffalo State College. She has been published in the Buffalo News, Intuitions, and The Portrait. She has been a member of WOCC for the past 15 years.

Barbara Faust teaches and writes with pre-schoolers at Bennett Park Montessori School. Her poetry has been published in Writers Who Cook, the Buffalo News, and Reading Teacher. She has contributed essays to writing guru Nancie Atwell’s Workshop I and Workshop II as well as led local writing workshops. She helped found and continues to nurture the writing group WOCC.

Kathy Shoemaker grew up in Spokane, Washington and began writing there with the writing group, HAGs. She has raised a large family, been in the art business and is a certified yoga teacher. After living all over the country she made her home in Buffalo in 1996 when she joined the WOCC. In addition to writing, she studies yoga, and dances with a local dance group.