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Avra Wing will discuss her memoir "Stride: How I Walked Away from Trauma Toward Healing." A Q and A and signing will follow the discussion. At the Seminary Co-op.
About the book: One spring afternoon in 1990, writer and mother Avra Wing, while holding her young son, is crushed by an out-of-control car careening onto the sidewalk near her Brooklyn home. Avra manages to hold on to her little boy, who is physically unharmed. She loses her right leg.
"Stride" is an unflinchingly honest account of living with sudden disability in a world designed for the able-bodied. Wing writes with poetic intimacy about her experience navigating the physical and emotional obstacles to recovery, her friends' and family's reactions to her injury, and the hard-won wisdom gained from learning that if you reach out your hand, someone will take it. Chronicling personal loss but also triumph-including adopting her third child-she tells a powerful story of recovery and resilience.
"Stride" illuminates how a radically altered life path can lead from tragedy and loss to community, connection, and joy.
About the author: Avra Wing is a novelist and teacher whose debut novel, "Angie," was adapted into a feature film starring Geena Davis and James Gandolfini. She has led writing workshops for people with disabilities since 2009 and is a passionate advocate for creative expression as a path to healing. She has three adult children and lives with her husband and cats in Brooklyn.
About the interlocutor: Jennifer Iverson is an associate professor of music and the humanities at the University of Chicago. Her work explores the intersections between music, technologies, people, and history. Her first book is "Electronic Inspirations: Technologies of the Cold War Musical Avant-Garde" (Oxford University Press, 2019). A passionate disability activist, she is Board Chair at City Elementary, a K–8 school for neurodiverse children, and facilitates a long-standing social music partnership that brings UChicago undergrads to the school. She co-teaches “Disability and Design,” a capstone undergraduate course with Michele Friedner, leads workshops on inclusive pedagogy.
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Event venue
5751 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL, United States, Illinois 60637
Tickets
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