M&L: What’s your bag?

AW: My red handbag is a great find from a secondhand shop. I love a cross-body bag that holds lots of stuff. My bookbag for work changes each year after I get new ones from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). This is last year’s swag from Penguin Publishing that says “Librarians & Teachers & Readers & Penguin.”

M&L: What books are you carrying for school, and are you carrying a book that isn’t for school?

AW: The books I am teaching for ENG 443: Creative Uses of Children’s and Young Adult Literature are Engaging Empathy and Activating Agency: Young Adult Literature as a Catalyst For Action by Alice D. Hays, Adolescent Literacy & Differentiated Instruction by Barbara King-Shaver and Alyce Hunter, and A Symphony of Possibilities: A Handbook for Arts Integration in Secondary English Classrooms by Kathrine Macro and Michelle Zoss. I’m carrying two young adult books to tell the class about. A couple of weeks ago at NCTE, I presented a session about The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, and I got Idris Goodwin to sign my copy of his recently released King of the Neuroverse. In addition, on my phone, I just finished listening to Hekate: The Witch by Nikita Gill, a beautiful reimagining of the Greek goddess.

M&L: Do you have a favorite pen, pencil, or notebook that you always carry with you?

AW: I don’t have just one favorite pen or notebook, but I like pens with a cushioned grip. I usually get a bunch from publishers and vendors at NCTE–the ones in my photo are from Follett and Play On Shakespeare. My handwriting is so messy because I have dysgraphia, a learning disorder that makes it difficult to hold a writing tool, form letters, and write in a straight line. I also like gel pens, like the Sharpie S-Gel in my photo, because the ink flows smoothly. I love to buy new notebooks for work and home, but try not to waste them, so I use the same one over multiple semesters until the pages run out. I don’t have a favorite kind of notebook, but I really like having grids, dots, or blank pages instead of lines, again for my dysgraphia.

M&L: Besides the essentials (phone, wallet, keys), what do you never leave the house without?

AW: I never leave the house without a hairclip or hair tie, Chapstick or lip gloss (Burt’s Bees lip shimmer is my favorite), and either gum (Trident peppermint), sugar-free Jolly Ranchers, or ginger chews.

M&L: What do you keep in your bag that you’ll never use? 

AW: Right now, I pretty much use all this stuff. I used to carry around a purse hook for tables to use at restaurants, but it was metal and too heavy, so I took it out.