ODYSSEY STORYTELLING PHOTOS and BIOS
October 1, 2015- "HOME”
Marge Pellegrino is a word wild, book bonkers, library lover seriously addicted to story. She started life in a small community outside NYC and has made Tucson her home since 1979. She is a teaching artist who writes and encourages others to find clarity and fun on the page. She manages programing for Owl & Panther, an expressive arts program for refugees who’ve had no choice but to flee their homes.
Martha Retallick lives – and dreams of being an urban farmer – on a tiny lot near Downtown Tucson, Arizona. There are times, when the agricultural thing works out. Then there are those days when the neighborhood insect life says, “Five-star restaurant at Martha’s place! And it’s free! Let’s go!” In addition to her city sojourns, Martha has bicycled through all 50 of the United States. It only took 12 years – and 15,000 miles. Along the way, she met such on-the-road challenges as traversing the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains and the Southwestern deserts. Martha also experienced many off-the-bike adventures, including a visit to former President Jimmy Carter’s residence in Plains, Georgia, a brief stint as a Kansas wheat farmer, and a night in an Arkansas jail.
Monica Bauer is new to Tucson, and will be producing the first Tucson Solo Theater Festival in late December. Full length plays produced Off Broadway, Off-Off Broadway, regionally, and internationally at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Brighton (England) Fringe Festival. Monica was the 2005 Teaching Fellow in the Graduate Playwriting Program at Boston University, where she received an MA in playwriting. Her full length play about race, “My Occasion of Sin,” was part of the 2014 season of the Detroit Repertory Theater. Her play for one actor, “Made for Each Other” has been in continuousproduction since 2009. Plays published by Brooklyn Press and Heuer. Full production history, awards, and publications at www.monicabauer.com.
You can hear and see nature illustrator Beth Surdut on 89.1 Arizona Spotlight’s web page, encouraging listeners to pay attention to the critters that crawl, fly and skitter around us.( https://radio.azpm.org/s/32776-the-art-of-paying-attention-harris-hawks/) Her illustrated work Listening to Raven won the 2013 Tucson Festival of Books Literary Award for Non-Fiction. Elements of her raven clan have appeared in Orion Magazine, flown across the digitally looped Art Billboard Project in Albany, New York and roosted at the New York State Museum.
Brad Lancaster is an opportunistic, exotic weed rooted in the Sonoran Desert where he strives to be of service. Towards that aim he authored the books Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond and co-founded DesertHarvesters.org. Treasure hunting on bike or foot revives him, thus you’ll often find him scouting a back alley, dumpster, ancient ruin, or water hole. Treasure planting enlivens him, so you can join him digging rain nets, sowing wild food plants, and weaving living corridors through minds and neighborhoods.
Curated By Jen Nowicki Clark
Israel Gonzalez is a Mexican American who was born in California but has spent most of his life in South Tucson. He is an AmeriCorps member and a GED graduate attending college to pursue a degree in science and engineering. But he also loves to write poetry and dreams of making it big. He couldn't tell you which he loves more, math or poetry. Either way, he has the formula down and he will never give up.
Jennifer Nowicki Clark is an educator, organizer, printmaker and mom. As co-director of the consulting firm, Creative Narrations, she trains different groups throughout the country to create multi-media digital stories in their communities and share them to spark dialogue and create change around issues that are important to them. She loves being a part of the Odyssey team and believes that there is no better tool than a story told from the heart to heal, inspire, teach and breakdown stereotypes. Originally from South Jersey and Philadelphia, Jen has degrees in Sociology and Linguistics and began her professional journey teaching ESL and Civics for Adult Education students here in Tucson.
