Featured Speaker
Martha J. Bourlakas
Martha grew up hiking the Appalachian Trail and is grateful for the crooked path that brought her home to the mountains of Southwestern Virginia.
With an undergraduate degree from Sewanee, M.Ed. from Vanderbilt and MFA from Spalding University, Martha has taught English and writing in middle school, high school and college, and communications at the Knoxville Police Academy and the City of Chicago Traffic Safety School.
Her first book, Lovefeast: Together at the Table, is a collection of essays on the intersection of disability, hospitality and faith. Her second book, Our One Word: Creating Spiritual Joy and Depth, will be released by Church Publishing in the summer of 2018. Martha currently leads Our One Word workshops and retreats across the country. She owns Storied, a granola and sugar cube business. You will definitely want to buy some.
Martha loves the holy chaos of mothering Hannah (24), Sarah (21) Elizabeth (14), Sammy and Walter (Dachshunds), and her life with husband Mark, an Episcopal bishop. She reads the Maisie Dobbs mystery series and watches Netflix when she is supposed to be writing. Her favorite kind of cake is yellow, with chocolate icing.