Cole Moran teaches English at at the New York City iSchool in Brooklyn. If you'd like to connect with Cole about this unit, send him an email or a direct message on BreadWeb.

Contact Kurt Ostrow at ostrowk@gmail.com if you have a teaching resource you'd like to share with BLTN colleagues. 

Banning books is bad (duh!), so where’s the tension in a course about that? At my NYC public school, I also didn't want it to be a "they, over there, are the bad guys banning books, and we here are without problems!" Shouldn't I be equally worried about my tailspinning attention span that has prevented me from finishing a single book since January? And what of the books that, even in so-called progressive districts, we might self-censor, such as Ta Nehisi-Coates’ The Message? And how about curricular pressures that threaten the novel entirely? I've also had in mind the 2022 talk Emma Smith gave to Bread Loaf Oxford, in which she argued that book bans are a distraction under fascism given that censoring books only makes them more popular.

Here are my essential questions: With plummeting attention spans and reading levels, will future generations even be able to read books? Will the real “ban” simply be apathy, illiteracy, and a coordinated move away from the novel form in secondary schools? I plan to have students write a multi-genre paper that they will add to throughout the course that responds to the very simple question: Why read? They'll start with their own personal narrative life with books, engage in a literary analysis of Parable of the Sower, arguing for the extent of its continued relevance to read, and finish with a synthesis of some of the political and intellectual sources we'll read along the way on the threats to reading in our time. Would love to connect further about it!

Six BLTN youth from Aiken (SC), Louisville, and Santa Fe Indian School presented alongside peers from Japan, India, Pakistan, and the United States during the Critical Issues Forum at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Special thanks to Masako Toki, of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, for including BLTN NextGen schools in these amazing cross-cultural conversations. "This year marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings," writes Toki on the Critical Issues Forum Instagram account, "and students engaged in powerful discussions on nuclear issues, with the theme: '80 Years of Struggle: Revitalizing Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation Through Cross-Cultural Youth Engagement.' In times when it’s so easy to feel disheartened, engaging young people in these vital global conversations gives me hope. Empowering and educating the next generation to tackle these challenges is one of the most impactful actions we can take. I’m more motivated than ever to continue working with youth, to inspire change, and to make meaningful progress toward a safer and better future for all."

Last Saturday, April 12, BLTN's Next Generation Leadership Network Youth Advisory Board met with author, filmmaker, and artist Maham Khwaja for a writing workshop. Khwaja read from The Home We Make, her children's book (recently featured on NPR) which narrates the story of a Pakistani migrant family. She then led youth in a workshop focusing on incorporating sensory details into writing. Khwaja also gave instructions for an accompanying art activity.

NextGen youth were fortunate to be joined by Mohsin Tejani (MA '01) and 17 Pakistani peers associated with The School of Writing in Karachi. Participants shared creative pieces centering around the idea that when we engage our senses and imaginations, home is something we can take with us when we're displaced or traveling.

Professor Angela Brazil (left), 2025 BLTN Faculty Fellow, with Beverly Moss, BLTN Director at the 2025 Bread Loaf Winter Institute.

BLTN is thrilled to announce that Professor Angela Brazil will be our Faculty Fellow in residence at the Vermont campus this summer. Angela is an actor, director, and teacher based in Providence, RI. A member of Trinity Rep’s Resident Acting Company since 2000, Angela has been an Associate Professor of the Practice in Brown / Trinity Rep’s MFA Programs in Acting and Directing. This fall she'll join the faculty at Dean College as an Associate Professor of Theater specializing in Acting. Angela's been a beloved member of the Bread Loaf faculty since 2012, teaching a course each year on using theater in the classroom. Her course this summer is Theatrical Practice and Building Community in the Classroom. Angela comments, "I'm humbled to be named this summer's BLTN Faculty Fellow. As a longtime fangirl of this extraordinary network, I'm grateful to have the opportunity to work in partnership with its teachers this summer, and can't wait to serve and support, to engage in BLTN's exchange of ideas and practice—its reciprocity of inspiration."

For Summer 2025, we'll have approximately 40 fellows across the three campuses. Stay tuned for our annual "Meet the Fellows" feature in the next issue of Bread Loaf Teacher Network Journal.

"On March 15, 2025, These Halls Can Talk celebrated its 10th anniversary with 'Past Forward: An Intergenerational Community Event.' This event, which was intentionally designed to focus on community building— a value that is so important right now—gave not only students and graduates of Booker T. Washington High School, but also members of the BLTN NextGen network a unique and unforgettable opportunity to develop and strengthen community bonds by fostering meaningful connections between different age groups and cultures. 

These Halls Can Talk, through the 'Past Forward' event, was proud to be able to offer techniques of community building by encouraging intergenerational and cross-cultural dialogue and enriching the overall community fabric by celebrating shared histories and creating new connections." —Shaleisa Brewer (MA '22), These Halls Can Talk Director / NextGen ATL Site Mentor

This gathering was part of a three-day visit to Atlanta by NextGen youth and mentors from Santa Fe Indian School, La Casa Roja (Navajo), and Aiken (SC) from March 14-16.

In addition to the "Past Forward" event, the NextGen crew visited the Martin Luther King Jr. Historical Center, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Herndon Museum, and the hisoric Booker T. Washington High School. Site travel was supported by funds from Middlebury College's Kathryn Wasserman Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation.

"The Sharon Academy (TSA), a small but mighty independent school in rural Sharon, Vermont, is one of six active sites participating in What’s the Story? this year. TSA serves as the Vermont hub for both What’s the Story? and the BLTN NextGen youth leadership network."  Read the full text of Site Mentor and BLTN Fellow Hailey Elles' report on filmmaking at TSA this year in the latest What's the Story? The Young Filmmakers' Social Action team newsletter. 

Middlebury College and Bread Loaf School of English professor James Sanchez visits with TSA students. Photo by Hailey Elles

Alfredo (MA '87, MLitt '18) invites BLTNers to join either or both of two free online creative writing events he'll lead for Santa Fe Community College. The first is a reading (April 23, 6 pm MST, 8 pm EST), the second is a creative session (April 30, same times). In the creative session, Alfredo will give prompts that offer insights to self-identity, heritage, place, and the written and digital preservation of family vignettes through freewriting and childhood maps. Participants should be prepared to draw and write on paper or a device. For Zoom links, register once at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WriGenSp2025. (Image from the Santa Fe Community College program website.)

This is the final BLTN newsletter of the 2024-25 academic year. Thanks for reading along with us. Look for the 2025 edition of the BLTN Journal in May.

Follow BLTN on Social Media

Follow BLTN NextGen on Social Media