Shirley's profile
BIO UPDATED DECEMBER 30, 2014
Shirley J. Brewer (Baltimore, MD) is a poet, educator, and workshop facilitator. She is currently poet-in-residence at Carver Center for the Arts and Technology in Towson. Shirley won First, Second and Third Prizes in the Maryland Writers' Association 2010 Short Works Contest for Poetry, and First Prize in 2004. Shirley received an Honorable Mention in Passager'?s national Poetry Contest in 2005, 2009, 2012, and 2013. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2009 by Manorborn. Publication credits include: Cortland Review, Pearl, Comstock Review, Loch Raven Review, HazMat Review, Edison Literary Review, Free Lunch, Manorborn, Calyx, Passager, Verse Wisconsin, Little Patuxent Review, and other journals. Her first poetry collection, A Little Breast Music, was published in 2008 by Passager Books (Baltimore). Her second book of poetry, After Words, an elegy to slain Hopkins breast cancer researcher, Stephen B. Pitcairn, was published in February, 2013 by Apprentice House/Loyola University (Baltimore). www.apoeticlicense.com
M.A. Creative Writing/Publishing Arts, University of Baltimore, 2005.
Prior to graduation, Shirley received the first Creative Writing Award for Excellence in Plorking.
PLORK = Play + Work, and is the keystone of the Creative Writing program at UB. Shirley has developed Plorkshops to help individuals awaken their creative genies.
Shirley teaches poetry workshops at LitMore in Baltimore, and at Howard Community College. She also teaches poetry in the after-school creative arts program (PVA) at Brooklyn Park Middle School in Anne Arundel County.
Shirley taught creative writing for two years to 7th and 8th graders in a program called It Takes A Village Class for Writers at the Village Learning Place in the Charles Village Community of Baltimore.
She is a volunteer usher at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore. She also volunteers for WYPR, and for the 2nd Wednesdays Committee at the Village Learning Place. In January, 2015, Shirley will be a judge for the Baltimore County Poetry Out Loud Competition.
Shirley's Artist Statement:
I see poems in everyday experiences - family interactions, an item in the news, an autumn leaf.
My first book, A Little Breast Music, is - in the words of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Stephen Dunn - "Brewer's book of delight and laments." These are poems about family, love, and loss - a combination of elegy and comedy.
After Words, my second book, is a memorial and tribute to the life of Johns Hopkins breast cancer researcher, Stephen B. Pitcairn, knifed in the heart as he walked home from Penn Station in Baltimore on the night of July 25, 2010. In these poems, Stephen speaks, following his death - "so much unsaid, undone."
My third full-length manuscript, Bistro in Another Realm, is currently out to publishers. Bistro offers fresh insights into the different realms of being human - where Light mixes with Space, Color with Humor, Shadow with Time, Silence with Sound, and Play with Loss.
My fourth manuscript is "under construction." I have given it the tentative title of The Wife Poems, although that may change, as the manuscript is still evolving. It began with poems about the wives of famous men - Noah, Job, General Custer, Wild Bill Hickok. Lately, I am writing poems about strong women, who are not wives. I look forward to surprising myself further, as I continue to explore my direction in new poems.
In addition to writing, submitting, and publishing poems and books, what is close to my heart and core is my role as Teacher. For many years, I worked as a speech therapist, and now I teach poetry to children, adolescents, and adults. I have decided to include here my Philosophy of Teaching, which expresses my authentic self.
Philosophy of Teaching by Shirley J. Brewer
Creativity is an ode to life. Wynn Bullock
Creativity is to innovation as oil is to the tin man. Found Quote
I trust the Sequin Journey more than the Sequential Route. Shirley J. Brewer
In May of 2005, a throng of graduate students, gowned and capped, walked into the Lyric Theatre to accept their diplomas from the University of Baltimore. One student accessorized with a lavender feather boa. Her name was Shirley J. Brewer.
My Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing/Publications Design represents more than the completion of a rigorous and challenging curriculum. It reflects who I am as a person, and the core of who I am as a teacher. The concept of PLORK, PLAY + WORK, is the keystone of the Creative Writing Program at UB. I received a copy of The Plork Humanifesto during my first course at UB—Creativity: Integration of Forms. I live and teach according to its principles.
Before composing my Philosophy of Teaching, I read numerous examples on the Internet. I wanted to do it “right.” I immersed myself in language and strategies, becoming dizzy with pedagogical terms. I have decided to articulate my Philosophy of Teaching via the principles of The Plork Humanifesto, embellished by phrases from the Color Wheels (developed by Connecticut poetry therapist JoAnn Flynn) I use in all my creativity and poetry workshops.
I want to first emphasize that I came to writing late, after a thirty-two-year career as a speech therapist in the Anne Arundel County Public Schools. I have always been an educator, and worked in many classrooms with students as well as small-group settings. Since the age of 22, my philosophy of teaching has always focused on establishing and maintaining a positive interpersonal rapport with my students. That is especially important in the field of communication – both speaking and writing.
ORGANIZING VISION: The Plork Humanifesto
1) You are home. All the resources you need are inside you.
GLOWING DRAGON EYES
I encourage students to mine their own life experiences, imaginations, and interior landscapes when they write. I like to foster a relaxed classroom environment, where students feel comfortable creating, exploring, sharing their work with one another.
2) First thought: art. When you sit down to write, accept the first idea that comes. Trust it.
COPPER SPARK
This principle guides my own writing life, helps me stay in touch with my own voice. If I were asked to select just one way I’d want to inspire students, it would be this: Find and nurture your own voice. I want to help students with their discovery.
3) Creativity is a practice, not a talent.
SNOWY GLITTER
Students can learn to deepen their practice of creativity/creative writing. This is a joyful discipline. It embodies the Spirit of Plork – Play + Work. In the classroom, we explore ways to enhance creative practice. We make connections between ideas/concepts./objects where no previous connections existed. We invent original metaphors and similes.
4) There are at least 13 ways of seeing. Make anything a subject of your contemplation. Let it carry you to another world.
Among twenty snowy mountains
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.
Wallace Stevens, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”
BLACK WIND RUSHING
Students practice the art of seeing, of looking deeply at the subjects they want to explore through writing. They learn to respect the differing visions of their peers.
5) Use all of your senses. Practice using the less familiar ones.
WET CLAY/GOOEY TARTS
In the classroom, the creative process encourages description: rich flavors, a sensory flowering, and sensory immersion.
6) There are no problems, only opportunities
BLUE OPULENCE
Even the most creative person is subject to a bland day, when colors turn neutral and the mind pales. I like to provide my students with a range of creative prompts/activities that generate imaginative writing. Surprises. Fresh sparks. New Beginnings.
7) Keep moving. Don’t get stuck.
GOLD KEYS
The revision process is where students often feel frustrated and bored, and stuck.
How much longer do I need to work on this?
Is it done yet?
Reflection and Revision can generate a dull energy that feels like a train chugging up a hill. It’s important to help the student discern there is still movement! And the glory of the summit awaits!
8) Work soft. Not hard. Work softly but constantly. A sustained gentleness.
MAGICIAN’S RABBIT
A comfortable classroom. A supportive teacher. The blend of structure and freedom. Students become immersed in their creative process.
9) Let go of the final product! Plork deeply. Learn full engagement. Let the work guide you.
WHIR OF RED WINGS
Students learn to love what they create, to accept and even relish their first drafts, and realize what gems they have birthed. They practice seeing what they make, without judgment. Later, they go back and rework, and revise. Initially, though, it’s a tumble into the writing, a reveling in the creative cycles.
10) Change is…
RESILIENT VOICE
Accepting change is part of the learning process, as students grow as writers and gradually begin to steer more from the inside. The Teacher is Guide, Muse,
Cheerleader. The Teacher as Writer knows about Doubt, Rejection, Comparisons (to other writers). A strong teacher can ease the path, clarify the maze, enrich the Sequin Journey.
Shirley J. Brewer (Baltimore, MD) is a poet, educator, and workshop facilitator. She is currently poet-in-residence at Carver Center for the Arts and Technology in Towson. Shirley won First, Second and Third Prizes in the Maryland Writers' Association 2010 Short Works Contest for Poetry, and First Prize in 2004. Shirley received an Honorable Mention in Passager'?s national Poetry Contest in 2005, 2009, 2012, and 2013. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2009 by Manorborn. Publication credits include: Cortland Review, Pearl, Comstock Review, Loch Raven Review, HazMat Review, Edison Literary Review, Free Lunch, Manorborn, Calyx, Passager, Verse Wisconsin, Little Patuxent Review, and other journals. Her first poetry collection, A Little Breast Music, was published in 2008 by Passager Books (Baltimore). Her second book of poetry, After Words, an elegy to slain Hopkins breast cancer researcher, Stephen B. Pitcairn, was published in February, 2013 by Apprentice House/Loyola University (Baltimore). www.apoeticlicense.com
M.A. Creative Writing/Publishing Arts, University of Baltimore, 2005.
Prior to graduation, Shirley received the first Creative Writing Award for Excellence in Plorking.
PLORK = Play + Work, and is the keystone of the Creative Writing program at UB. Shirley has developed Plorkshops to help individuals awaken their creative genies.
Shirley teaches poetry workshops at LitMore in Baltimore, and at Howard Community College. She also teaches poetry in the after-school creative arts program (PVA) at Brooklyn Park Middle School in Anne Arundel County.
Shirley taught creative writing for two years to 7th and 8th graders in a program called It Takes A Village Class for Writers at the Village Learning Place in the Charles Village Community of Baltimore.
She is a volunteer usher at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore. She also volunteers for WYPR, and for the 2nd Wednesdays Committee at the Village Learning Place. In January, 2015, Shirley will be a judge for the Baltimore County Poetry Out Loud Competition.
Shirley's Artist Statement:
I see poems in everyday experiences - family interactions, an item in the news, an autumn leaf.
My first book, A Little Breast Music, is - in the words of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Stephen Dunn - "Brewer's book of delight and laments." These are poems about family, love, and loss - a combination of elegy and comedy.
After Words, my second book, is a memorial and tribute to the life of Johns Hopkins breast cancer researcher, Stephen B. Pitcairn, knifed in the heart as he walked home from Penn Station in Baltimore on the night of July 25, 2010. In these poems, Stephen speaks, following his death - "so much unsaid, undone."
My third full-length manuscript, Bistro in Another Realm, is currently out to publishers. Bistro offers fresh insights into the different realms of being human - where Light mixes with Space, Color with Humor, Shadow with Time, Silence with Sound, and Play with Loss.
My fourth manuscript is "under construction." I have given it the tentative title of The Wife Poems, although that may change, as the manuscript is still evolving. It began with poems about the wives of famous men - Noah, Job, General Custer, Wild Bill Hickok. Lately, I am writing poems about strong women, who are not wives. I look forward to surprising myself further, as I continue to explore my direction in new poems.
In addition to writing, submitting, and publishing poems and books, what is close to my heart and core is my role as Teacher. For many years, I worked as a speech therapist, and now I teach poetry to children, adolescents, and adults. I have decided to include here my Philosophy of Teaching, which expresses my authentic self.
Philosophy of Teaching by Shirley J. Brewer
Creativity is an ode to life. Wynn Bullock
Creativity is to innovation as oil is to the tin man. Found Quote
I trust the Sequin Journey more than the Sequential Route. Shirley J. Brewer
In May of 2005, a throng of graduate students, gowned and capped, walked into the Lyric Theatre to accept their diplomas from the University of Baltimore. One student accessorized with a lavender feather boa. Her name was Shirley J. Brewer.
My Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing/Publications Design represents more than the completion of a rigorous and challenging curriculum. It reflects who I am as a person, and the core of who I am as a teacher. The concept of PLORK, PLAY + WORK, is the keystone of the Creative Writing Program at UB. I received a copy of The Plork Humanifesto during my first course at UB—Creativity: Integration of Forms. I live and teach according to its principles.
Before composing my Philosophy of Teaching, I read numerous examples on the Internet. I wanted to do it “right.” I immersed myself in language and strategies, becoming dizzy with pedagogical terms. I have decided to articulate my Philosophy of Teaching via the principles of The Plork Humanifesto, embellished by phrases from the Color Wheels (developed by Connecticut poetry therapist JoAnn Flynn) I use in all my creativity and poetry workshops.
I want to first emphasize that I came to writing late, after a thirty-two-year career as a speech therapist in the Anne Arundel County Public Schools. I have always been an educator, and worked in many classrooms with students as well as small-group settings. Since the age of 22, my philosophy of teaching has always focused on establishing and maintaining a positive interpersonal rapport with my students. That is especially important in the field of communication – both speaking and writing.
ORGANIZING VISION: The Plork Humanifesto
1) You are home. All the resources you need are inside you.
GLOWING DRAGON EYES
I encourage students to mine their own life experiences, imaginations, and interior landscapes when they write. I like to foster a relaxed classroom environment, where students feel comfortable creating, exploring, sharing their work with one another.
2) First thought: art. When you sit down to write, accept the first idea that comes. Trust it.
COPPER SPARK
This principle guides my own writing life, helps me stay in touch with my own voice. If I were asked to select just one way I’d want to inspire students, it would be this: Find and nurture your own voice. I want to help students with their discovery.
3) Creativity is a practice, not a talent.
SNOWY GLITTER
Students can learn to deepen their practice of creativity/creative writing. This is a joyful discipline. It embodies the Spirit of Plork – Play + Work. In the classroom, we explore ways to enhance creative practice. We make connections between ideas/concepts./objects where no previous connections existed. We invent original metaphors and similes.
4) There are at least 13 ways of seeing. Make anything a subject of your contemplation. Let it carry you to another world.
Among twenty snowy mountains
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.
Wallace Stevens, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”
BLACK WIND RUSHING
Students practice the art of seeing, of looking deeply at the subjects they want to explore through writing. They learn to respect the differing visions of their peers.
5) Use all of your senses. Practice using the less familiar ones.
WET CLAY/GOOEY TARTS
In the classroom, the creative process encourages description: rich flavors, a sensory flowering, and sensory immersion.
6) There are no problems, only opportunities
BLUE OPULENCE
Even the most creative person is subject to a bland day, when colors turn neutral and the mind pales. I like to provide my students with a range of creative prompts/activities that generate imaginative writing. Surprises. Fresh sparks. New Beginnings.
7) Keep moving. Don’t get stuck.
GOLD KEYS
The revision process is where students often feel frustrated and bored, and stuck.
How much longer do I need to work on this?
Is it done yet?
Reflection and Revision can generate a dull energy that feels like a train chugging up a hill. It’s important to help the student discern there is still movement! And the glory of the summit awaits!
8) Work soft. Not hard. Work softly but constantly. A sustained gentleness.
MAGICIAN’S RABBIT
A comfortable classroom. A supportive teacher. The blend of structure and freedom. Students become immersed in their creative process.
9) Let go of the final product! Plork deeply. Learn full engagement. Let the work guide you.
WHIR OF RED WINGS
Students learn to love what they create, to accept and even relish their first drafts, and realize what gems they have birthed. They practice seeing what they make, without judgment. Later, they go back and rework, and revise. Initially, though, it’s a tumble into the writing, a reveling in the creative cycles.
10) Change is…
RESILIENT VOICE
Accepting change is part of the learning process, as students grow as writers and gradually begin to steer more from the inside. The Teacher is Guide, Muse,
Cheerleader. The Teacher as Writer knows about Doubt, Rejection, Comparisons (to other writers). A strong teacher can ease the path, clarify the maze, enrich the Sequin Journey.
You have not yet created a curated collection!