Pamela Newton

Pamela Newton teaches in the English department at Yale University and the Humanities faculty at Cooper Union and coordinates pedagogical outreach in the Center for Writing at Cooper Union. She has written essays, reviews, and cultural criticism for publications including The New York Times Magazine, Time Out New York, American Theatre, National Book Review, O the Oprah Magazine, and the Huffington Post. She is working on a book about her childhood, from which this essay is excerpted.