What does it mean to teach and write for joy? Poet Toi Derricotte’s 2008 poem “Joy is an Act of Resistance” points to joy as foundational to Black Women’s active resistance to oppression. In her 1992 novel Possessing the Secret of Joy, Alice Walker suggests that “resistance is the secret of joy,” and award winning author, Bread Loaf alumna, and faculty member Rebecca Makkai reminds us, in her essay “The World’s on Fire, Can We Talk about Books?” that “Joy is a radical act.” I consider these statements calls to action for all of us to seek joy as not only a way to fight against the forces that are attacking diversity, equity, and social justice work, especially in education, but also a way to thrive, to engage in meaningful work inside and outside the classroom. When we look at joy as radical, as resistance, then we start to push back against those who question the value of using literacy—reading and writing—to advocate for social change.  

So how can we in the Bread Loaf Teacher Network take up these calls at a time when, for many of us, teaching English language arts and or engaging in community activism is being met with suspicion and distrust, when some of our favorite and most thought-provoking books are being banned, and many teachers are not permitted to engage their students in discussions about difficult topics like racism, gender identity, and homophobia? Educators, particularly in the humanities, whether in the classroom or community, are feeling under siege. 

The Bread Loaf Teacher Network began to take up these calls by making “Teaching and Writing for Joy” our theme for the 2022-23 school year.  During the Summer 2022 session, BLTN fellows in Vermont, Oxford (UK), and Monterey (CA) engaged in a summer-long discussion of teaching and writing for joy through weekly discussion prompts and responses on our BreadWeb discussion board. In addition, we invited four Bread Loaf faculty members (Angela Brazil, Ruth Forman, Cruz Medina, and Bob Sullivan) to help us think about joy in the classroom by discussing how they teach and write for joy. We invited BLTN members to help us think about how we find joy in our roles as educators and how we support others in enacting joy. And now, we amplify joy in this issue of the Bread Loaf Teacher Network Journal.  

As many educators are making the difficult decision to change careers, public education finds itself at a critical moment where resistance and radical acts of joy are needed. We seek to understand how to move forward in the wake of education reform measures in many states that potentially silence members of marginalized and oppressed groups. So, what are our radical acts of joy that keep us moving forward?  What does it mean to teach in the “Anti-Woke” moment in public education? These are the questions before us, the ones that will guide the Bread Loaf Teacher Network for 2023-24.