When Language Left Me - Paperback

Marie, Farzana: - Farzana Marie is a poet and a stroke survivor. Her brain injury has left her with a disability: aphasia (loss of language, not intellect). But she refuses to let aphasia define her. Her new collection of poetry, When Language Left Me, is comprised of poems all written AFTER her stroke-poems she fought hard to create, wrestling with her brain to get each word out. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Farzana completed three consecutive deployments in Afghanistan before leaving the military in 2012. In 2019-with aphasia-she successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation on Persian Literature. For the past several years, she has been working on her memoir and creating plans for the immersive, multi-sensory The Soul of Language Museum.Giffords, Gabby: - Gabby Giffords is a former United States Congresswoman from Arizona. Prior to holding that office, she was the youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona State Senate. In 2011, Ms. Giffords was shot in the head at a constituent event in Tucson. Shortly thereafter, in 2012, she retired from Congress to focus on recovery from her injuries, injuries which left her with aphasia. She is married to the retired astronaut Mark Kelly, and today she leads a gun violence prevention organization.