Lishai Peel

“Karen Connelly gave me the tools to access parts of myself I had not yet explored. Her guidance and encouragement enabled me to delve deeply into narratives that worked through sticky multiracial family histories, complicated relationships and inter-generational trauma. 

Under her tutelage, I began to unpack these stories in ways that now significantly inform my work. Before being mentored by Karen, I hid; I alluded, I wrote through abstraction. But Karen could still see me and she invited me to step into my work in a way I’d never before permitted myself to experience. Since this mentorship, I’ve come to realize that my stories are my life’s making. I’m no longer afraid to own and share them.”

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Lishai Peel, 2017