Stephen Haff
Stephen Haff is the founder of Still Waters in a Storm, a one-room school serving Spanish-speaking immigrant children in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Previously, he taught English at a public school in Bushwick for nearly a decade. He earned his MFA in Theater Studies at Yale, and has made a living directing plays and writing essays for the Village Voice and other publications. Stephen lives in Queens with his wife, children’s book author Tina Schneider, and their three children.
All Books By Stephen Haff
Kid Quixotes Los Kid Quixotes de Brooklyn (Spanish edition)
- By: Stephen Haff
- Narrator: Jesus E. Martinez
- Length: 9 hours 46 minutes
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Publish date: February 01, 2022
- Language: Spanish
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Los Kid Quixotes de Brooklyn cuenta la historia de un pequeno local de Nueva York donde, todas las tardes, un maestro se reune con un grupo de chicos de entre cinco y quince anos para leer y escribir en ingles y espanol, a salvo de las preocupaciones de las familias inmigrantes en una epoca de declarada hostilidad. Tras superar una crisis personal, Stephen Haff, creo este espacio dedicado a la empatia y la colaboracion en el que todos, adultos y ninos, cumplen con reverencia una unica regla: escucharse los unos a los otros. Este sencillo acto de generosidad produce efectos asombrosos. En estas paginas descubrimos como Stephen y sus estudiantes trabajan en grupo para traducir Don Quijote del ingles y convertirlo en una obra musical que acabaran representando en ayuntamientos, embajadas y universidades. La atencion reverencial que han aprendido a prestarse unos a otros los ha impulsado a superar todo tipo de dificultades y transmitir un mensaje de solidaridad y resistencia lleno de esperanza y optimismo.
Stephen Haff es el fundador de Still Waters in a Storm. Fue maestro de Lengua y Literatura en Bushwick High durante mas de diez anos. Obtuvo una maestria en teatro en la Universidad de Yale y ha dirigido obras e impartido clases en Nueva York, Vermont y Canada. Asimismo, ha escrito para The Village Voice, American Theater y otras publicaciones.
... Read moreStill Waters in a Storm
- By: Stephen Haff
- Narrator: Stephen Haff
- Length: 9 hours 50 minutes
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Publish date: April 21, 2020
- Language: English
Previously published as Kid Quixotes: A Group of Students, Their Teacher, and the One-Room School Where Everything Is Possible
“In my years of experience as a writer and as a college professor, I have never seen anything like this: the love for language, the passion for discussion, clarity of mind, and humility of heart. Stephen Haff invents impossible projects and makes them possible.”
–Valeria Luiselli, author of Lost Children Archive
The unlikely, inspiring true story of a one-room school where children of undocumented immigrants and their teacher discover their voices and speak truth to power.
Still Waters in a Storm is an after-school program held in a small room in Bushwick, Brooklyn; it is a place for kids to practice reading and writing in English, Spanish, and Latin. For the students, many living in constant fear of deportation, Still Waters is a refuge. For Stephen Haff, a former public-school teacher, it is the sanctuary he built following a breakdown caused by bipolar depression. At Still Waters, all agreed that there would only be one rule: “Everyone listens to everyone.” And this has unlocked spectacular potential.
Since 2016, the students have been collectively translating Don Quixote into English, taking the Spanish tale–a story about a dreamer who never gives up–and adapting it into a bilingual musical. Six-year old Sarah tells of her mother’s journey across the desert from Mexico riding on the back of a tiger. Alex, a very private teenager, sings her coming out song to standing ovations. As the kids perform their work across NYC, they learn that they belong in this country–their voices amplifying to deliver a message of diversity, love, hope, and resilience essential to us all.
... Read more