reads from her personal essay collection, Small: The Little We Need for Happiness.
In this brilliant essay collection, Jane Anne Staw invites the reader to journey with her as she discovers how to shift her gaze to small--and finds her way out of feelings of overwhelm and anxiety. Through example, Small teaches us how to see and connect to what is best in life, at a time when philosophers and psychologists are suggesting that we slow down in order to thrive in a world of turmoil, speed and excess information.
Jane Anne Staw has taught at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop; Stanford University; UC Berkeley Extension, and most recently in the MFA Program in Writing at the USF. She serves on the advisory board of the UC Extension Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program in Writing. As well, she has been a Bay Area Writing Coach for the past 15 years, working with writers on projects ranging from memoirs and historical fiction to novels, short stories and essays. Her books include: Parsnips in the Snow: Talks with Midwestern Gardeners (with Mary Swander), and Unstuck: A Supportive and Practical Guide to Working Through Writer’s Block.