A researcher in the New York Public Library’s Center for Research in the Humanities, I am working on a queer young-adult prequel to Romeo and Juliet. The novel opens in 1610, thirteen years after Shakespeare put the play on the page and stage. With a novel rooted in a specific time and place, and in one of Shakespeare’s best-known works, comes the responsibility to treat the era, the culture, and the playwright with respect. That means learning, and taking it beyond theory and surface knowledge, to places of discovery and points where the novel’s world becomes real. To build my characters’ world, I’m researching all the makings of their Early Modern adolescent lives and the worlds they inhabited: gender expectations and resistance, cartography discovery, exploration, espionage, oppression, arts and culture, the linking of violence and masculinity, humanism, theism, espionage, questions of identity and fealty… all that feeds a life. Having the support of New York Public Library and its brilliant research librarians and curators means having access to original materials, including books and maps Shakespeare and Galileo might have studied. A expanded research label on my library card frees me to explore archives in Yale’s, NYU’s and Columbia University’s libraries, and to request books from places farther afield. It’s the hardest work I’ve done to date, and the most rewarding. It’s also made me a stronger researcher, writer, editor, and book doula. There’s more on the table, which means there’s more to share: in the novel and in work outside its realm.

Like any other doula, I see a project through from concept to completion -- although writers often ask me to step in when a book, collection or other work is stuck or being revised. My aim is to nurture the writer's voice, and to see the imagined world and its inhabitants wholly developed. I have worked on fiction, young adult novels, academic works, and fictionalised memoirs. It's a joy to help a writer get past hurdles, and to see a work and an artist bloom. One fiction-writing client said, "I have learned more from you in a month than I did in my MFA." That's a win for all sides.

“The best food writing makes you hungry. Seánan’s words make you ravenous.” That's what food editor Janet Rausa Fuller said about my work. I have written for trade and consumer readerships, and have produced content for print, broadcasting and digital media, social media, and a smartphone app. Since 2007, I have developed an international network of distillers, winemakers, chocolatiers, chefs, ranchers, farmers, bartenders, hoteliers, restaurateurs, researchers, scientists, hidden little artisans, and other people in front of and behind the scenes.

Solo and collaborative storytelling. To date, I've performed from Toronto, Canada, to Geochang, South Korea, telling traditional and original stories for showcases, festivals, and corporate and family events.

I support, guide, and mentor poets, journalists, and writers through all stages of the creative process, from concept through publication. Award-winning YA novelist Erin Bow wrote, "I'm a published author and I work with some of the best editors in the business. But Seánan Forbes is the person who sees my words first, and sees them last. She's a great editor, but she's more than that -- she's the person who keeps me walking through all the spots where the writing gets stuck. She's invaluable. Hire her."

Copy editing short and feature-length articles by diverse writers, check consistency across media, fact-check, and brainstorm ideas for titles. Adapt to house styles and work to strict deadlines while bringing out each writer's unique voice.

Working with teen and adult students in different countries, teach theatre, writing (from life stories to poetry), and storytelling. For the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, I created and taught a curriculum in writing for actors. The students wrote and performed stories and monologues, and learned how to create performance works that they could pitch to festivals and venues, freeing them from the traditional constraints of auditioning or working within the demands of someone else's season.

Combine arts and education to enrich the lives of New York City public school students.

As a teaching artist with Community-Word Project, I collaborate with a colleague who works in another art form, jointly leading a residency where students grow in two fields of art, bring them together, and creating something that pulls everything together, allowing for communal and individual exploration in a new way. Community-Word Project's work is strongly rooted in social justice, and the organization is continually working to walk that talk. Social justice, equity, and equality are integral parts of the in-school work, of peer and staff development, and of ongoing trainings, which enables CWP's teaching artists to bring transparency, honesty, integrity, and the power of art into every space where we teach.

Teach acting and playwriting to high school ELL (English language learner) students. Help students to develop confidence in themselves as learners, communicators, and people, inside and out of school. Work with schoolteachers, learning their goals for the students, and revising the playwriting and acting lessons to enable students to achieve or exceed those goals while having fun, strengthening community bonds, and discovering new potentials in themselves.

“This six-month intensive training provides educators, therapists, counselors and other youth professionals including parents, with the skills, knowledge and experience necessary to effectively teach mindfulness and compassion techniques to children aged 5-17.”

The Interdependence Project offers trainings in teaching meditation to children and teens, a certification program in teaching meditation, retreats, and workshops in mindfulness, creativity, somatic practices, and more, all incorporating mindfulness and awareness. Other ongoing curricula are in development. As a teacher of future meditation teachers, I bring trauma-sensitive practices; disability and gender awareness that comes with lived experience, research, exploration, and training; and ongoing training in inclusivity, equity, and practical/applied mindfulness. I'm writing a book about practicing mindfulness -- alone, with a companion, or in communities -- with the lightest of touches, so it becomes a simple pleasure, rather than adding yet another must-do task to already overburdened days. As a teaching artist, I have taught people from five to eighty years of age, many with multiple disabilities or terminal illnesses. My students have taught me to bring lightness to deep work, tenderness to the hard places, and joy and appreciation to each moment whilst it's here. My hope is to bring more kindness into myself and the world, and to help people find ways to use meditation with wisdom and self-compassion, as safely as possible, in ways that bring ease and equanimity into their daily lives.

I was working on meditations for writers when a bartender and the head of a an international food-industry group separately approached me and asked me to lead meditations for their communities. To date, I have created meditations for chefs, bartenders, other hospitality workers, writers, journalists, and musicians--communities with widely recognised stressors, frustrations, aims, joys, and obstacles. To date, focuses have included stress, creativity, balance, regaining a calm space in mid-crisis, and creative block. Among my aims is creating meditations for doctors, first responders, crisis workers, and working groups where "team" is more a word than a realised community, to enable them to maintain balance in themselves and their lives.

Facilitating and co-facilitating restorative justice circles, some with such themes as racism, education, the school-to-prison pipelines, safety, inclusion/exclusion, and issues brought up by current events. This has deepened my work as an artist, strengthened my perceptions as a journalist, and given me a greater ability to perceive inequality, develop locally appropriate ways of addressing it, and better serve my students, clients, and communities.

Teach acting, improvisation, devised theatre, and playwriting to kindergarten through fifth-grade students in New York City public schools. Encourage students to grow in creativity, community, enthusiasm, and engagement through creative work, exercises, and opportunities to lead, explore, and stretch beyond their boundaries.

Master teaching artist with Marquis Studio. Lead teaching artist with Marquis' Teaching Artist Training Institute (Kennedy Center VSA), training teaching artists to work with children who have multiple physical and cognitive disabilities.Teach theatre and movement to children with multiple disabilities, including challenges in communication, mobility issues, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Down Syndrome, adapting lesson plans to enable every child to shine.Marquis Studios is extraordinary. 78% of their students live at or below the poverty level. More than 44% of their programs serve students with disabilities; over 25% of their programming serves children with multiple or severe disabilities. It's a daily privilege, and an excellent reminder that every success, however small it may seem on its surface, is cause for celebration.

Teach puppetry to neurotypical and atypical students aged six through thirteen. Engage students while giving teachers creative and technical skills they can bring to other classrooms. Adapt puppet-making and set-building tasks to enable minimally verbal and less physically adept students to communicate, collaborate, and do their best work. Devise adaptations so students with weaker grips and motor skills can hold and manipulate the puppets. Using more found and scavenged materials than store-bought supplies, students work with peers and teachers to make character-rich sock puppets, stick puppets, and marionettes. The trash-puppet approach teaches staff and students that a lack of funds needn't stop them from putting on a cleverly constructed show. Students take increasing responsibility for choices about the designs of the puppets, for building the puppets, and for decorating the cardboard-box sets. Students learn independence, hone fine and gross motor skills, collaborate and work independently, and use the sets and puppets they create in performing "Jack and the Beanstalk" for their peers.

Teach international arts and culture, engaging students through conversation, creativity, and actives. Lead Splat Labs, where students make magnificent messes while inadvertently steeping themselves in STEM. Work in public and private schools, teaching Pre-K through third grade students in standard, inclusion, and District 75 schools.

Assist in overseeing the beverage program of an alcohol-free popup bar. Train prep and bar teams, ensuring that there is clear communication, that standards are met or exceeded; that cocktails are consistent; that service is attentive, warm, and welcoming; and that the owner's vision becomes real whenever the doors are open.

After-school workshops in storytelling and social justice. Build creativity, inspire leaders, create more inclusive communities, open paths of communication, and enable the students to bring about positive change.

I'm taking my art and social activism into the classroom. As one of Community-Word Project's advanced Teaching Artist Project (TAP) students, I'll reflecting upon my creative process, collaborating with artists in other media, learning about pedagogy, developing teaching skills, and deepening my knowledge of social justice in order to help students to develop awareness and an ability to parse information, to develop strong minds and voices, and to use the arts to communicate, challenge, and explore their worlds.I expect this to make me not only a better teacher, but also a stronger editor, journalist, poet, writer, and storyteller. TAP is a division of Community-Word Project (CWP), a New York City based 501(c)(3) arts-in-education organization that works with children in grades K-12, teaching students in underserved communities to discover and develop their voices, to read, interpret, and respond to the world around them, and to become engaged citizens. TAP is a comprehensive training and internship program that readies practicing artists to bring their craft to the classroom. Based in social justice based pedagogy, the intensive curriculum incorporates studies of creativity, philosophy, critical thinking, and citizenship. It also also provides on-the-job experience and opportunities to delve into studies of other art forms, teaching for social justice, alternative settings, and universal design for learning.

Write "Tipping the Bar", a monthly bartending column, for Edible Manhattan

Review and consider traditional submissions for Under the Basho, an online haiku journal. Communicate with poets, offering guidance as appropriate.

I cover New York City restaurant openings, revisit longer-standing restaurants, uncover hidden gems, and write about eating and drinking for Table8, an international website focusing on fine and fun dining across the US.

An award-winning novelist hired me to serve as the photographer, audiographer and researcher for a month-long research trip to Outer Mongolia. My responsibilities included digital photography and editing; producing binaural and stereo recordings of ambient sound, traditional music and interviews; developing connections in the nomadic Kazakh region of Mongolia, making travel plans and arrangements; acquiring kit (equipment and first aid supplies) for the journey; adapting to changing needs and circumstances; hiring a guide and translator; conducting interviews; working with wildlife; and creating desktop and print-worthy images for research and publicity purposes.

I write about drinks, drink-makers, and and the culture behind brews and spirits for a national website.For many stories, I provide slide shows, taking and editing images. When the subject is far away, I source photographs for each article.

I wrote editorials and point-of-interest pieces for LodgeNet, a mobile app for business travelers. Cover fifteen cities, including Chicago, Seattle, and Portland Or.I built relationships with artists, chefs, businesspeople, and public relations professionals; stayed ahead of trends; conduct research, fact-checked, and developed a deep knowledge of each city's culture, history, and opportunities.

If it was a winemaker, a grape or the product thereof, I wrote about it: regions, varietals, traditions, technology, terminology, pairings, and profiles.

Covered food and drink, which included elements of nutrition, culture, trends and travel.

Each column explored an aspect of life in another part of the world and showed Kansas City residents how to recreate and enjoy it at home.

The Creative Center holds workshops for people with and survivors of cancer. I created and led three workshops:Word-Play: discovering joy in working and playing with words -- a course in creativity, collaboration and self-discoveryCreative and Life Writing: writing, exploration, structure, creativity, expansion of imaginative borders, and trust Storytelling: traditions, freedom, play, performance, teamwork, and independent creativityMore than half of my students returned to take subsequent workshops. The work they produced was honest, courageous, sometimes funny and, without exception, impressive.