The Heart of an Artichoke
Claire Lerognon
Claire Lerognon is a language and communications specialist at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. Her interest in languages and language acquisition led to a colorful career teaching French to students ranging from preschoolers to diplomats and the UN’s global staff. She is currently part of the Language and Communications Training Unit where she specializes in training design and development geared towards fostering multilingualism in the organization. The Heart of an Artichoke is her first book — and boldest learning venture yet. Claire lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Uncle Steve’s Country Home; The Blue Dress
Teboho Moja
Dr. Teboho Moja is a Clinical Professor of Higher Education at New York University, an Extraordinary Professor at the University of the Western Cape – South Africa, and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She is the recipient of the Martin Luther King, jr. Faculty Award (2019), the National Research Foundation- Lifetime Achiever Award (2019), Women in International Education Award (2019), and Graduate Students Star Award (2019). She previously served as an Executive Director and Commissioner of the National Commission on Higher Education in South Africa (1995), appointed by President Mandela. The Commission produced a national report that provided a framework for higher education reform in South Africa. She has published extensively on higher education policy, presented numerous keynote addresses at international conferences on higher education issues. Before coming to NYU, Teboho Moja served as a Special Advisor to the Minister of Education. Teboho Moja has served on numerous committees, advisory boards and boards of international bodies such as UNESCO and Councils of Universities in South Africa. She has served as Chair on various Boards. In 2010 she was appointed visiting professor at the University of Oslo (Norway) and University of Tampere (Finland), and in 2017 she was a visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong.
The Heart of an Artichoke
Linda Phillips Ashour
Linda Phillips Ashour is the author of four novels: Speaking in Tongues, Joy Baby, Sweet Remedy, and A Comforting Lie. Speaking in Tongues is the story of an expat from Oklahoma that was written when she lived in the South of France. Her articles and book reviews have appeared in the New York Times Book Review, the New York Sun, Mia, and the Weekly Standard. She has published short fiction in the Paris Review and the North American Review and was a contributor to My Father Married Your Mother: Dispatches from the Blended Family. She has taught writing at UCLA Extension, received a Beck fellowship from Denison University, and been a fellow at Yaddo. Her new book, The Heart of an Artichoke, co-authored with Claire Lerognon, offers a non-traditional menu of possibilities for anyone hungry for French language and culture. Linda lives in Los Angeles with her husband.
Super Korean New Years with Grandma
Mary Chi-Whi Kim
Mary Chi-Whi Kim is a mother of two beautiful Afro-Asian children and a writer and educator who lives in Savannah, Georgia. Her essays, stories, and poems have featured in The New York Times Magazine, NPR’s Snap Judgment, The Heartlands Today, Calliope, Calyx, Primavera, Many Mountains Moving, Margie, Women’s Arts Quarterly, and Literary Mama. She won two poem commissions from the Multicultural Center of The Ohio State University from which she earned a BA and MA in English Literature. Also gaining an MFA in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University, she garnered publication for her poetry chapbook, Silken Purse, from Pudding House Press. Her multi-genre creative writing/self-help book dedicated to survivors of childhood sexual assault, Karma Suture, garnered an Honorable Mention in the Writers’ Digest International Self-Published Books Contest. Committing two decades to the field of education, she has taught multicultural English literature and creative writing at the Seoul Language Institute, The Ohio State University, and Savannah College of Art and Design.
Super Korean New Years with Grandma
Eunjoo Feaster
Eunjoo is an illustrator and graphic designer who receive her degree from School of Visual Arts in NYC. A firm believer in life-long learning, she continued with her education at the Center for Book Arts, SVA Continuing Education, Cooper Union Continuing Education. The Lower Eastside Printshop as well as attending a bookbinding workshop in Czech Republic. She has been published in many different publications such as Calyx, Crone, a. magazine, Kidsart, United Nations, McGraw-Hill Publishing, JK Lasser Publishing. Eunjoo has also worked for many individual clients creating logos, layouts, designs and illustrations. She has also donated her skills, time and money to various charities that empower girls and women. Many years ago, she lived at an elephant village working as an art teacher for the elephants. After having children of her own, she co-founded a Korean preschool with a friend. She lives in NY with her children, husband and an elderly black cat.
Peshtigo 1871
Charles Mercier
Dr. Charles Mercier is professor of Classics at College of Humanities in Cheshire, Connecticut, the college seminary of the Legionaries of Christ, a Catholic religious congregation of pontifical right. He holds BA and PhD in Classics from Columbia University and has taught Classical and European Humanities and Greek and Latin language and literature at Columbia, City College of New York, Vassar College, University of Southern California, and Fairfield University. Charles has long cultivated an interest in performance of ancient Greek and Roman poetry and drama in both productions and academic publications. His journalism for Catholic news sources has communicated his interest in nineteenth century Catholic history and in the theological notion of purification of memory promoted by John Paul II and what it implies for Catholic humanities education. After a trip to Zambia in 2001 he produced a documentary short about the life of AIDS orphans in Lusaka and a CD compilation of songs by street kids with an accurate edition of their lyrics in Town Bemba and Nyanja. After a trip to Iraqi Kurdistan in 2016 he wrote on the Chaldean Catholic archdiocese of Erbil. He has translated previously, from Latin, Terence Brothers (1997). The new edition by TBR Books of Peter Pernin’s The Finger of God is There! began as family history: Charles is the great grandson of one of Pernin’s two nieces who accompanied him from France to Illinois in 1864.
The Hummingbird Project
Vickie Frémont
Vickie Frémont is an artist, designer, and teacher with dual background –a Cameroonian mother and a French father– currently living and working in New York City. She has lived between two different cultures — African and European, two worlds, and speaks several languages: French, Portuguese, Italian and… Bambara (from Mali). Her formal education includes degrees in anthropology, language, teaching, as well as applied and fine arts. Vickie Frémont is the Founder of My Hands My Tools, a New York organization which provides workshops for girls and women from marginalized communities. Frémont has offered her recycling art workshops to women from marginalized communities in Peru and Sri Lanka, and later to the women of Ambohitra as a way to rebuild a school and support the Island of Sainte Marie in Madagascar in the aftermath of cyclone Ivan. Since then, Vickie Frémont has developed the Hummingbird Project inspired by The Amerindian Legend of The Hummingbird that inspired Wangari Maathai, first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The goal of The Hummingbird Project is to bring everyone’s creativity out, and to provide participants with a break during which the hands regain their primary role: to create. Her artistic practice, which utilizes recycled materials, has led her to be been exhibited both internationally and nationally in venues such as the National Gallery, Zimbabwe; Musée du Quai Branly, France; The United Nations; Museum of Biblical Art; and Bronx Museum in the United States.
Noah Henry; The Sewing Lesson; Masks!
Deana Sobel Lederman
Deana Sobel Lederman is a cartoonist and illustrator who lives in San Diego, California with her husband and two young sons. She is the author of Rainbows, Masks and Ice Cream, a series of three stories for children about the COVID-19 pandemic, and the webcomic Philip the Sea Lion. Her work has appeared in Business Insider, Barron’s, The Hairpin, the Brooklyn Public Library, Gallery New World Stages in Manhattan, and the New York City Department of Education’s publications. As an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, Deana was the staff editorial cartoonist for The Daily Californian. She earned national recognition for her editorial cartoons and was a finalist for both the John Locher Memorial Award and the Society of Professional Journalism Mark of Excellence Awards. Her comic strip, Roomies, based on the lives of Deana and her six college roommates, was a finalist for MTV U’s Strips contest. In 2008, she received a JD from UC Berkeley School of Law, where she concentrated in copyright and patent law.
Sénégal à l’étranger
Maya Angela Smith
Dr. Maya Angela Smith is an associate professor in the French and Italians Studies department at the University of Washington in Seattle. She completed her undergraduate and master’s degree at New York University in the joint MA/BA program with the Institute of French Studies. She then received her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in Romance Languages and Linguistics. Her scholarship broadly focuses on the intersection of racial and linguistic identity formations among marginalized groups in the African diaspora, particularly in the postcolonial francophone world. Her recent book, Senegal Abroad: Linguistic Borders, Racial Formations, and Diasporic Imaginaries, was published with the University of Wisconsin Press in January 2019. She is thrilled to publish the French translation, Sénégal à l’étranger, with TBR Books. In addition to her focus on the Senegalese Diaspora, Maya also conducts research on race and language in the French Caribbean and on inclusive pedagogies in the foreign language classroom. Furthermore, she engages in public scholarship, publishing pieces on racial and cultural identity in publications such as the Boston Globe and Nerdist. She is currently working on a biography of septuagenarian Alvenia Bridges who left her mark in the music industry as tour manager to Roberta Black, Rolling Stones, and others. Maya has been the recipient of various grants including the Woodrow Wilson Career Enhancement Fellowship, the UW Research Royalty Fund Fellowship, the Simpson Center Society of Scholars, and the Camargo Foundation Fellowship.
Can We Agree to Disagree?
Agathe Laurent
Agathe was born in a family with a rich international background, made of stories of immigrations on her maternal side, and on the paternal side, a father who was one of the first in his generation to move to the U.S. for an MBA and start his career there. Only a few months after her birth in Paris, Agathe and her family moved back to the U.S. for a new experience abroad. This became the foundation of her deep aspiration to build herself as a global Citizen of the World and foster her passion for people. Over time, Agathe cultivated her international flair at every occasion, constantly jumping on a plane for a new adventure, catching a work opportunity abroad, or learning a new language. After a year in Chile helping the underserved, Agathe quickly specialized in Market Research: she realized that studying consumer behaviors, no matter the topic, was an opportunity to learn about people and intercultural differences. Since then, Agathe has continued to fulfill her passion for connecting with people, and her curiosity for changing cultures. Propelled by her ability to listen, and to analyze, Agathe quickly climbed the ladder in different organizations before launching her own Marketing Consultancy firm, with offices in Paris and New York, after several years in a leadership role at consultancy firm Kantar. Agathe lives in New York where she raises her three children in a wonderfully bilingual and bi-cultural environment.
Can We Agree to Disagree?
Sabine Landolt
Sabine was born on the West Coast as her father, a young chemical engineer, joined the University of California Berkeley. From the San Francisco Bay area, her family transferred to Los Angeles around the UCLA campus. Her family later moved to Lausanne, Switzerland. The Germanophone family had to learn French, including Sabine’s Dutch mother. But the American culture had an important presence in the family as her brother decided to move back for his master and for working at Silicon Valley. ‘The Polyglot’ became Sabine’s “personal label.” After graduating from the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Appliqués, in Switzerland, Sabine transitioned from the creative world to business development. After a first experience in a Swiss German company, Sabine started moving around the world for what she calls “my professional road trip.” Working for well-known multinationals, she was fully immersed in different working styles and management environments. Since then, Sabine has been strongly advocating for how cultural differences impact international business development and human relationships. Sabine moved her family from Milan to New York where she created a branding boutique agency, dim3branding Inc., and added Canada on her road map while mentoring at McGill University’s Entrepreneurship Program in Montreal. Sabine is on the advisory board of Dispersa Inc, a clean tech startup, and co-founded new3plus Inc., a high-end creative makers platform in New York and Sao Paulo, while joining the NEW INC (New Museum incubator).
One Good Question
Rhonda Broussard
Rhonda Broussard is the founder and CEO of Beloved Community, a national nonprofit committed to sustainable economic equity in schools, workforce, and housing. Broussard is an award-winning education entrepreneur and sought-after public speaker. She is a 28-year educator and researcher who founded and led a network of language immersion and international schools in the US. Broussard studied education in Cameroon, Martinique, metropolitan France, Finland, and New Zealand. Her essays have been featured in The Future of University, North American Edition; Building Bridges, One Leader at a Time; This I Believe, Personal Essays by the Women and Men of Eisenhower Fellowships; IB World magazine, and Forbes Magazine. Rhonda lives in her native Louisiana with her partner, Kim and two children, Olivia and Oscar. Wherever she is in the world, Rhonda can usually be found studying, performing or occasionally teaching dances from the African diaspora. One Good Question is her first book. For more information, visit rhondabroussard.com
Salsa Dancing in Gym Shoes
Alyson Leah Lavigne
Dr. Alyson Leah Lavigne is an Assistant Professor of Instructional Leadership at Utah State University. Using her training as an educational psychologist and classroom researcher, Lavigne has conducted research on teacher retention, teachers’ beliefs, teacher supervision and evaluation, and Latinx students’ experiences. Most recently, she has merged her interest in educational policy specifically teacher evaluation, and teaching and motivation in schools that serve Latinx students, in order to focus on instructional practices and leadership in schools that serve diverse youth and dual language learners. In her book, Salsa Dancing in Gym Shoes, Alyson and co-author Tammy Oberg De La Garza traverse the White and Latino cultures on a daily basis, use essays written by Latinx authors to uncover past missteps and explore culturally responsive ways of engaging Latino students in learning. She lives in Salt Lake City with her husband, Erick and two sons, Leonardo and Santiago.
Salsa Dancing in Gym Shoes
Tammy Oberg De La Garza
Dr. Tammy Oberg De La Garza, is an Associate Professor and Director of Dual Language Teacher Leadership at Roosevelt University, and has been involved in educating children and adults for more than 25 years. She began her career as a teacher in Chicago Public Schools, and teaches and conducts research in dual language, literacy, social equity, and learning within Latino communities. Tammy’s countless hours in women’s ministries, small groups, marriage ministry, and step studies have helped her understand the vital importance of developing healthy relationships with women of varying ages. In her book, Salsa Dancing in Gym Shoes, Tammy and co-author Alyson Leah Lavigne traverse the White and Latino cultures on a daily basis, use essays written by Latinx authors to uncover past missteps and explore culturally responsive ways of engaging Latino students in learning.She lives in Chicago with her husband, Rey and their young adult children, Sierra and Alex.
The Long Trek North; A Journey through Childhood
Darcey Hale
For Darcey Hale, history has been a passion since, as a ten year old, she was introduced to the world of antiquity while residing temporarily among the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza and Uxmal in Yucatan. This experience was the catalyst for her ongoing quest to learn more about those who had lived in a time gone by. She moved to Willsboro, New York and became the guardian of the treasures that the Clark family had left behind. Through their legacy she has lived their lives and now, in her first book, shares the story of the Clark family, as it so vividly portrays nineteenth century life in New York’s Champlain Valley. In The Long Trek North, the first book in a series of five, she invites her reader to come with her on a journey into the past. It begins in the Connecticut Berkshires in 1801 and transports us north with George and Lydia who set forth to Willsborough, New York and, established a family presence in the early days of that town. In her second volume, A Journey through Childhood, she portrays Orrin Clark within the context of life at Willsborough Point, and the daily events that took place there, as well as the impact that events in the broader arena, including the War of 1812, had upon Orrin Clark and the Blinn familyDarcey lives in Willsboro, New York.
The Bilingual Revolution; The Gift of Languages; Conversations on Bilingualism
Fabrice Jaumont
Dr. Fabrice Jaumont is the author of The Bilingual Revolution: The Future of Education is in Two Languages, which focuses on the development of dual language and immersion programs in public schools across the United States. Fabrice Jaumont holds a Ph.D. in International Education from New York University. His research and publications find themselves at the intersection of comparative and international education, education philanthropy, heritage language and multilingual education. He also co-authored The Gift of Languages with Kathleen Stein-Smith, where both authors explore the many advantages of multilingual education and sets the stage for a new paradigm in our approach to teaching and learning languages. The book touches on the issue of foreign language deficit in the US and the changes that need to occur in our schools to better serve our children and our linguistic communities. He is currently working on a new book with us at TBR Books, Conversations on Bilingualism with Ana Ines Ansaldo, Ellen Bialystok, Ofelia García, François Grosjean and Christine Hélot where Fabrice delves deeper into the topics of bilingualism, bilingual education, and cognitive development through a series of conversations with world-renown experts. Fabrice lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Two Centuries of French Education in New York
Jane Flatau Ross
Dr. Jane Flatau Ross is an educator with over 40 years’ experience in the field of international education, including a long career at the Lycée Français de New York. She is the founder and President of the French Heritage Language Program, an organization that provides French language instruction and support to Francophone immigrants in the United States. Jane received her BA from Swarthmore College, majoring in history and French, her MA from Hunter College in English, and a PhD in International Education from New York University. Jane is the co-author of a number of scholarly papers and book chapters concerning the development of French Heritage Language programs, bilingual and dual language initiatives. She was awarded the Legion of Honor and the Palmes Académiques by the French government for her service to French education. Jane lives in New York, New York
Immigrant Dreams
Barbara Goldowsky
Barbara Goldowsky has written fiction, poems, and nonfiction articles that have been published by regional and national journals and newspapers. Born in Germany, Barbara came to the United States in 1950 with her mother and her younger brother. The family settled in Chicago, Illinois, where Barbara attended public schools and junior college, majoring in English and journalism. Awarded a scholarship designated for a “deserving foreign-born student,” she studied at the University of Chicago, majoring in political science and receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in June 1958. At the University of Chicago, fascinated by American literature and creative writing, she joined the staff of the literary magazine, the Chicago Review, just as American literature was being transformed by the Beat poets and writers. After years devoted to marriage and child-raising, Barbara’s writing career began in the early 1980s when she was living in the Hamptons. In 1985, she became a freelance contributor to the Southampton Press, writing articles about the arts, and reviews of books, music, theater. She produced and hosted radio programs that featured interviews with writers and poets for the radio station of Long Island University’s Southampton Campus (now Stony Brook Southampton). In 1989 Barbara helped to found Pianofest in the Hamptons and remained associated with the festival, serving first as general manager and then as publicity and publications manager. In 2016, Barbara moved to her present home in Lasell Village, in Newton, Massachusetts. She considers herself a fortunate immigrant because she was able to realize her twin dreams of attaining a world-class education and of becoming a writer in her adopted language.
The Gift of Languages
Kathleen Stein-Smith
As a dedicated foreign language educator and advocate, Dr. Kathleen Stein-Smith is the author of several books and numerous articles about the United States’ foreign language deficit. Her TEDx talk, The U.S. Foreign Language Deficit—”What It Is; Why It Matters; and What We Can Do about It” has been viewed thousands of times, and her blog, “Language Matters.” attracts countless visitors each year. Dr. Stein-Smith is also Chair of the American Association of Teachers of French) Commission on Advocacy. She is a member of the American Translators Association Education and Pedagogy Committee, the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Advisory Council, the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Advisory Council, and is a Southern Conference on Language Teaching Sponsor. She also serves as French Language Facilitator at Many Languages One World. She is associate university librarian and adjunct faculty in foreign languages and related areas at Fairleigh Dickinson University. She received the French Government’s medal of Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques. Kathy lives in Bergenfield, New Jersey
The Other Shore; Beyond Gibraltar; Mamma in her Village
Maristella de Panniza Lorch
Dr. Maristella de Panizza Lorch is Professor Emerita of Italian and Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Barnard College and Columbia University, as well as Founding Director Emerita of the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America. She is the mother of three daughters and the widow of the mathematician Edgar Raymond Lorch. The Other Shore is the closing volume of the trilogy Beyond Gibraltar, following Mamma in her Village and Beyond Gibraltar. She lives in New York.
