Salem Athenaeum’s writing committee celebrates Mother’s Day with a collection of true stories about motherhood in all its forms told by local friends and neighbors. Bring your mother to this event and make her proud.
Storytellers include: Zoe Culbertson, Anusia Gillespie, Felicia S. Pierce, Katie Naoum Rogers, and Jacquie Valatka.
Zoe Culbertson is an acupuncturist, meditation teacher and poet who has published work in Island Sky Journal, Wild Roof Journal, Beyond Words, Action, Spectacle, Wildfire and printed two chapbooks (Become and The Wake) on a letterpress using her own handmade paper through Persephone Press. She is a founding member of the Marblehead (MA) Poets Group where she lives by the sea with her family. She runs Seaside Family Acupuncture in Marblehead where she is also a licensed herbalist and shiatsu practitioner and offers acupuncture in an integrative clinic at the NeighborhoodPACE program. Zoe is passionate about art, nature and supporting community.
Anusia Gillespie is an author, podcast host, and former legal-tech executive who now writes and speaks about the decisions that shape our lives. After a decade working at the intersection of law, business, and technology—including a leadership role during a $1B legal AI acquisition—she turned to storytelling to explore what she calls the “Soul Toll”: the hidden cost of the commitments we make. Her debut motivational fiction novel, Soul Toll, was written in part for her son, Raphael. Its dedication reads,“Always, fight for your light.” Becoming a mother gave her the urgency to bring the book into the world and build a life where her “yeses” make space for what matters most.
Katie Naoum Rogers is a poet, educator, writer, editor, and mother. She previously taught ELA in public school in Salem and in New York City and currently is a curriculum director for a major education publisher specializing in K-12 ELA. Her poetry for adults has been published in B.E. Quarterly, The L Magazine, and MER. Her poetry for children has been published in Abe’s Peanut in collaboration with the artist Julia Norton. Her chapbook I Wouldn’t Have Thought of It This Morning was selected as the 2010 New School Chapbook Award Series winner by poet Matthew Rohrer and she was the winner of the Marblehead Festival of the Arts poetry contest in 2024. Her teaching philosophy is rooted in inclusivity and antiracist teaching practices.
Hosted by Katie Naoum Rogers.
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