Listen To Your Mother
Our Cast
Sondra Imperati
The Persistent Courage to Forgive
Sondra Imperati is a writer, speaker, stepmom, and grandmother who believes the most powerful stories grow out of the messy, ordinary moments of life. She leads Persistent Courage®, where she coaches and creates courses and workshops that strengthen connection, communication, and community. She also works with business leaders and entrepreneurs navigating change. Sondra wrote about reinvention in the New York Times bestselling anthology Eat Pray Love Made Me Do It.
Janice Hodgins Spiotta
Ida
I was raised in a large family, have been married for forty-six years, and I have three daughters and seven grandchildren. I am a retired school counselor and avid fitness enthusiast. I especially love running and hiking. I'm a creative, outgoing person who enjoys the opportunity to share and learn.
David Andreatta
Smile, Damn It
David Andreatta is a veteran Rochester journalist who writes about culture, power, and interesting people. He’s curious by nature, skeptical by trade, and believes local journalism matters.
Amy Hatch
What they Tell you, for Allie
As the author of the blog Chicken and Cheese, Amy shared intimate, honest stories of parenting. Her work has appeared on Babble, The Huffington Post, Baby Center, and more. Hatch also appeared on media outlets as a parenting expert, including The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and others. She lives in Brighton with her two young adult kids and her husband and works a day job as a high-tech marketing executive.
Emily Benson
French Toast
Emily Benson usually writes poetry, but dabbles in flash fiction and creative nonfiction. She lives near the beach with her husband, two sons, and an elderly cat named Misty. Find her work at emilybensonpoet.com.
Erica Beversluis Saran
The Mother's Journey
Erica Beversluis Saran is a mother of two and most recently worked as a nonprofit grant writer. She studied rhetoric and political science at Calvin University and has a Master of Public Administration from Cornell University. Her family moves between Michigan, India, and Rochester.
Fonda Abdoch
Come Back, My Children
I am a single mother of four daughters. I substitute as a clerk in the Rochester City Schools. I describe myself as a mother that works, not a working mother. I have always written pieces as a way to explore and understand all sides of my fickle Gemini, and now I'm in the mood to share my mind with others. I'm ready to see if I have a voice to match the words I write.
Pia Moller
Mother Tongue
A native of Denmark, Pia Moller grew up eating eel and flatfish from the fjord. The fjord is also where she took swimming lessons. She works in higher education, has a background in refugee resettlement and has also worked jobs in a psychiatric hospital, a commercial launderette, and in the fish-packing industry. Education smells better. Her creative interests include writing, beach combing, and photography.
Leah McGuire
To Revive; To Be Alive; A Butterfly
Leah McGuire received her Bachelor’s in Fashion Design at Philadelphia University and her Master’s in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. Being a West African and Scandinavian American synesthete, Leah uses experimental fiction to explore the uncertainty of racial identity and psychology. Since then, she has been featured in the 2025 Bedford Square Review anthology, written a documentary for Vedavision Studios, and started a writing page on Instagram @siftimbiswrites.
Kyle Semmel
Her Name is Sue
K.E. Semmel is a writer and translator of more than a dozen novels from Danish, including Naja Marie Aidt, Jussi Adler Olsen, and Simon Fruelund. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Ontario Review, Lithub, The Millions, HuffPost, Electric Literature, The Writer’s Chronicle, AARP, Washington Post, and elsewhere. He is the author of the novel The Book of Losman (2024). Find him online at kesemmel.com.
Amanda Kernahan
Amanda writes about all things grief, love, and hiking related. The project of her heart is her forthcoming memoir, PATCHED, about processing grief and loss during her long trek to complete the 46 Adirondack High Peaks with her husband. While she navigates the publishing landscape with her manuscript, she continues to publish smaller pieces in both literary and commercial outlets . When she is not writing she is likely at the hospital working as a sign language interpreter, or planning her next adventure. She lives in Fairport with her husband, teenage son, and their oversized german shepherd while her daughter is off living her best life in college outside of Boston.
Mary Aman
Breath of Life
Mary (Keefer) Aman’s passion and life’s work is being a mother to five adult children and one son-in-law. She teaches English as a New Language in Fairport. Mary is also a yoga instructor and has owned and operated her yoga business for more than twenty-five years. Mary serves on the board of directors at Camp Stella Maris where she was a camper and counselor before co-founding the Day Camp in 1990.
Meagan Zdep
The Last Time
Meagan Zdep is a local theatre artist with a BFA in Theatre Studies from Niagara University and a BA in American Sign Language Interpreting from RIT/NTID. Her main role these days is Mom to her three children and two dogs. She is currently developing a new work for the stage woven from women’s birth stories.