Join us in celebration of our current exhibition Pennsylvania Made with readings by local writers from The Head and the Hand’s recent publications. Readings will take place during the course of First Friday evening in conjunction with Object Lesson a First Friday speaker series. While here at the Center we invite guests to explore the exhibition, Museum Collection and shop for unique items in our Museum Store.
Readers: Norman Cain, Sarah Grey, Briyanna Hymms, Lauren Lowe
Debates, Defenses, and Dreams by Norman Cain
Norman Cain was born in 1942 and raised on Olive Street in West Philadelphia. He graduated in 1964 from Bluefield State College in West Virginia where he majored in social science and minored in English. A retired social worker, teacher, father of five and grandfather of seven, he is active in several writing groups, including the Best Day of My Life So Far at the Philadelphia Senior Center. His work can be read in several volumes of the Drexel Writers Room’s Anthology series, Milestones, The Best Day of My Life So Far, and in numerous online and local publications.
Salvaging the Dormant: On Language by Sarah Grey
Sarah Grey is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. Her work on topics including politics, language, food, and labor has appeared in Best Food Writing 2015, Jacobin, Bitch, Saveur, International Socialist Review, Monthly Review, Lucky Peach, and more. She edits and indexes academic, activist, and creative nonfiction (with a specialty in Marxism) for publishers and individuals under the name Grey Editing (greyediting.com) and was awarded the American Copy Editors Society’s 2016 Robinson Prize for Excellence in Copy Editing.
Time Stamps by Briyanna Hymms
Briyanna Hymms majored in biology (BS ’18) and minored in writing at Drexel University. She is an active member of Drexel’s Writers Room, where you can find pieces of her poetry, creative nonfiction writing, and art. In her free time, she takes care of her garden and spends time with her loved ones. Her story is woven with strands of inspiration from friends and family, helping to form the tapestry of her life.
Some Old Houses by Lauren Lowe
Lauren Lowe is a Drexel alum (BA English, ’17). During the 2017-2018 academic year, she served as an Artist Year fellow and taught creative writing at Paul Robeson High School in West Philadelphia. She is a regular member of Drexel Writers Room and a fervent Sixers fan—both have taught her how to trust the process.
The Head & The Hand is a nonprofit, independent craft publishing company and writers’ workshop based in Philadelphia.
We call it “craft” because we consider writers to be artisans, much like a carpenter or a farmer. And just as a farmer is connected to the crop from the seed to the harvest, we think that a writer should be connected to the process of crafting a book, from manuscript submission to the shelf.
With business practices influenced by the work ethic of artisans, we strive to work with authors, both aspiring and established, whose work is not confined to a specific style or mindset. Our main goal is to produce writing that shows a connection from the head to the hand by publishing stories that have the power to change and entertain.
And with our Writers’ Workshop, we are also doing everything we can to help maintain the long legacy of book publishing in Philadelphia, while also making our own unique contribution to the city’s burgeoning literary community.
For more information about The Head and the Hand click HERE.
For questions please contact Katie Sorenson, Community Engagement Manager at [email protected].