Priscilla Gilman

Priscilla Gilman is the author of The Anti-Romantic Child: A Story of Unexpected Joy (HarperCollins), a beautiful exploration of one woman's expectations and hopes for her children, her family, and herself, and of the ways in which we are all capable of reimagining our lives and finding joy in the most unexpected circumstances. A former professor of English at Yale and Vassar, with a background in the performing arts, Gilman is a captivating speaker whose warmth, dynamism, and accessibility make her highly sought-after by diverse audiences. In her wise and inspiring keynote speeches on subjects from parenting special needs children to literature as therapy, she shares the lessons she's learned from her poignant journey through crisis and disenchantment to a place of peace and resilience.

Gilman had the greatest expectations for the birth of her first child. Growing up in New York among writers and artists, she experienced childhood as a whirlwind of imagination and creative play. Later, as a student and scholar of Wordsworth, she embraced the poet's romantic view of children -- and eagerly anticipated her son's birth, certain that he, too, would come "trailing clouds of glory." But her romantic vision would not be fulfilled in the ways she dreamed. Though Benjamin was an extraordinary child, the signs of his remarkable precocity were also manifestations of a developmental disorder that would require intensive therapies and special schooling, and would dramatically alter the course Gilman had imagined for her family. In The Anti-Romantic Child, as well as in her speeches, Gilman illuminates the flourishing of life that occurs when we embrace the unexpected, and shows how events and situations often perceived as setbacks can actually enrich us.

Gilman graduated from Yale summa cum laude and phi beta kappa, with exceptional distinction in the English major, and went on to earn her masters and Ph.D. in English and American literature at Yale. She spent two years as an assistant professor of English at Yale and four years as an assistant professor of English at Vassar College before leaving academia in 2006. She has published numerous articles and book reviews and chaired panels and lectured at literary and early childhood conferences on subjects ranging from early intervention to inclusion, the literature of compassion to creativity and criticism in Jane Austen. Recently she has taught poetry appreciation to inmates in Resolve to Stop the Violence (RSVP), a restorative justice program in the San Bruno County jail, and to New York City public school students. As a literary agent at Janklow & Nesbit Associates for the past four years, Gilman has represented a wide range of projects, with a special focus on literary fiction, inspirational memoir, smart self-help, and relationships/parenting/education. She lives in New York City with her two sons.

The Anti-Romantic Child: A Story of Unexpected Joy

Beyond Expectations, Finding Unexpected Joy

Parenting a Special-Needs Child

Parenting Different Children; Teaching Different Learners: An Individualized, Differentiated, Strengths-Based Approach

Maintaining a Family After Divorce; Collaborative Divorce and Happy Co-Parenting

Bibliotherapy: How Literature Can Enlighten, Inspire, Heal

The Lessons of Loss

School-Parent Collaboration: Working as a Team

Overcoming Perfectionism and Becoming "Nobody But Yourself"

"A Moment Now": Living Mindfully and Gratefully

Who Are We, Really? The Limits of Labels and Diagnoses

Caring for the Caregiver

The Importance of the Arts in Education