From GATHERING VOLUMES
A discussion and book reading focused on surviving abuse will be held Saturday, Feb. 3 at 2:30 p.m. at Gathering Volumes,196. E. South Boundary St. Perrysburg.
Dr. Martina McGowan author of the recently released A Sweeter Song” and Sarah Stankorb, author of “Disobedient Women,” will read from their books. They will then be joined in a discussion by Dr. Sharon Barnes, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Toledo, Rachael Garnder, Victim Services Director at YWCA Northwest Ohio, and Lori Strang, pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church.
“A customer requested that we ask Ms. Stankorb if she would be willing to join us for an event at Gathering Volumes,” says Denise Phillips, owner of Gathering Volumes, “when the chance came up to host Dr. McGowan, it seemed like a golden opportunity to have an important conversation.”
In “Disobedient Women,” journalist Sarah Stankorb outlines how a small group of faithful women exposed abuse, brought down powerful pastors, and started an evangelical reckoning.
In “A Sweeter Song: Catharsis” Dr. Martina McGowan, a gynecological physician, survivor, and activist, pens a powerful collection offering a unique perspective on the lives of people of color, women, and other marginalized and oppressed people, highlighting the struggles and triumphs that shape our collective human experience.
“This seemed like the perfect opportunity to have a serious talk about survivors of abuse, particularly female survivors. However, we knew that no one at the bookstore was qualified to lead the discussion, so we reached out to our amazing community to find the right people,” Phillips stated. The right people include leaders from academia, religion, and community organizations working to protect and empower survivors. “We are so lucky that the literary community of Northwest Ohio is so kind and willing to step up. Dr. Barnes from the University of Toledo has been instrumental in making sure we handle this event with professionalism and empath.”
Martina McGowan, MD is a gynecological physician who has spent a lifetime engaging formidable opponents. The author of the award winning poetry collection “I Am the Rage,” she has been a survivor and activist fighting against social, racial, and sexual injustices, and a physician serving underserved women who have been survivors, as well as heroines in the war on women.
Sarah Stankorb has written hundreds of reported articles and essays, which have appeared in publications, including: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Vogue, Marie Claire, Glamour, and VICE. She was born in Youngstown, Ohio, and as a kid, often found escape in books. She studied religion and philosophy at Westminster College, and ethics and South Asian religion and history at the University of Chicago’s Divinity School.
Her beat spans religion, politics, gender, and power, but is informed by questions of basic morality. This means investigating wrongdoing; it can mean reporting on how people find the strength to prevail. Sarah lives in Ohio with her husband and two children.
