Description:
Beachy wonders what a martyr heritage means for herself and her children, celebrates the complexities of simple living, philosophizes on chickens and more, and seeks balance as artist and caregiver.
Brief description: Kirsten Eve Beachy lives with her husband and twin daughters in Briery Branch, Virginia, where she writes about motherhood, disability, backyard poultry, and changelings. Beachy's MFA in creative writing is from West Virginia University. An associate professor at Eastern Mennonite University, she edited Tongue Screws and Testimonies: Poems, Stories, and Essays Inspired by the Martyrs Mirror (Herald Press, 2010). Her stories, poems, and essays appear in various journals and anthologies. Connect with her at kirstenevebeachy.wordpress.com.
Review Quotes: "Kirsten Beachy's clean, simple prose draws us into a world where every detail has meaning and every choice, moral consequence. These artful essays wink with irony and ache with life and insight. Read them and find faith in love's labors and the sustaining cycles of the earth." -Julia Spicher Kasdorf, Author, As Is
"This is a wondrous weave of stories and reflections on life as a woman, mother, writer, and 'granola Mennonite.' Dancing among subjects from farming to martyr tales, chickens to infertility, breastfeeding twins to reclaiming a writing life, Beachy's memoir crackles with energy, salted with anger and compassion, leavened with humor and well-earned insight. All of us who know how complicated, exhausting, and rewarding it can be live simply-to care for and nurture others, the planet, and our own beings-will find much to cherish in this brave, smart, relentlessly honest book. -Jeff Gundy, Author, Wind Farm: Landscape with Stories and Towers
"In Martyrs and Chickens, Beachy writes with exquisite tenderness, wit, and unflinching honesty about faith, family, and the push-pull of heritage. Through essays that are both deeply personal and universally resonant, she navigates marriage, motherhood, infertility, and caregiving-all while reckoning with what it means to inherit a legacy of sacrifice and simplicity. I clutched my heart." -Kate Baer, Author, How About Now