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More From The Burn
Judith Cookis Rubens was diagnosed at 45 with Stage II, HER2+ breast cancer. She is a freelance journalist living in North Carolina with her husband and twin sons. Judith enjoys writing about her local community, parenting, arts, theater, and education topics. In this episode, Judith reads her essay “Dancing Myself Back to Life” from the 2024 “Body” issue of Wildfire Journal. Her piece is about the power of movement—not just as exercise, but as a way to reclaim the body after cancer. April and Judith will discuss returning to dance as an adult, as well as dance and music as a healing. They will also discuss Judith’s experience as a journalist writing memoir.
Gillian Lichota was diagnosed at 35 and 40—first with Stage III and later with Stage IV breast cancer. She is a mother, mountain climber, adventure travel enthusiast, and the founder and CEO of the iRise Above Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering and supporting young women through breast cancer. In this episode, Gillian reads her essay “An Open Letter to My Daughter, Layke,” from the 2024 “Mothers & Daughters” issue of Wildfire Journal. Her piece is about the ways motherhood transforms us. April and Gillian will discuss the healing found in witnessing your child’s life, leading your children with intention, the legacy offerings we want for our children, and modeling vulnerability. They will also discuss Gillian’s careers from marine biologist to founder of a nonprofit breast cancer organization.
In this episode you are going to hear a collection of short pieces we are dubbing “Flash Memoir” from our archives. These are little gems we’ve published in Wildfire Journal, read for you by April Stearns. We have nine years of published stories in our archives that are just too good not to share. In the past we used to do a call for submissions for short-form stories with a very specific prompt in mind. We would get back some very impactful bite-size vignettes – not long enough to be a full essay. This collection of dense and sparkling flash memoir pieces comes from our 2017 “Body” issue of Wildfire Journal. The writing prompt was, “What were your surgery experiences?” with pieces written by Vicky Finch, Maegan Molnar, Libby, Riley and Laurie.
