In Praise of Quiet Advocacy with Amy Austin
Writing Prompts, MBC, Advocacy Angela Firman Writing Prompts, MBC, Advocacy Angela Firman

In Praise of Quiet Advocacy with Amy Austin

Amy Austin returns to The Burn for a second visit. Amy was diagnosed with Stage IV de novo breast cancer at 34 after initially being misdiagnosed with a complex benign cyst. She is the third in a direct family line to be diagnosed with breast cancer without a known genetic link. In this episode, Amy reads her poem “In Praise of Quiet Advocacy” from the 2024 “MBC: Advocacy” issue of Wildfire Journal. Her poem is about the role of “quiet” advocacy in supporting individuals living with metastatic breast cancer (MBC).  April and Amy will discuss what quiet advocacy means, the importance of being seen and seeing other young breast cancer patients, and the impact of friendships when sharing an MBC diagnosis. Amy will also share how her poem came to be with the support of another MBC friend, and the writing prompts that are all around us.

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The Longest Goodbye with Mila Knight
Advocacy, Body, MBC, Music, Poetry, Writing Prompts Angela Firman Advocacy, Body, MBC, Music, Poetry, Writing Prompts Angela Firman

The Longest Goodbye with Mila Knight

Mila Knight returns to The Burn for another visit to share something special. In 2022 Mila was our guest reading her piece “Crawling in My Skin” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2021 “Body” issue. In that story Mila shared how she turned to music for solace in hard times following her breast cancer diagnosis at 38. In that episode, Mila revealed she was working on recording a song that she was not yet ready to share. Now, Mila is ready to share her song, "The Longest Goodbye," in this episode. April and Mila will discuss the inspiration for her song, caregiver roles in cancer, and what pushed Mila to complete the song. They will also talk about Mila’s song writing process, what Mila has in the works, as well as fundraising and advocacy.

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