Roundup: Back to School
In our Roundups segment, we’re looking back at all the great posts since the blog started in 2009. We explore posts from our archives as well as other top literary magazines and websites, centered on a certain theme to help you jump-start your week.
It’s almost September, which means that the school year is about to begin. We expect that many of you who teach writing or creative writing are finishing up your syllabi and lesson plans (we sure are!). Here are some blog posts and articles on teaching to help you gear up for classes.
Or, if summer’s end puts you in that back-to-school mood, but you aren’t heading back to class, whip your writing into shape with these resources.
On Teaching from Ploughshares
- Wondering what books to include on your class list? Check out Erinrose Mager’s series “The Books We Teach” for interviews with creative writing teachers.
- Creative writing teachers talk about the MFA degree, writing as a community, and Denis Johnson in these videos by Michael Klein: Part 1 and Part 2.
- Catherine Carter discusses class planning with an eye for outcomes and assessments.
- David S. MacLean explains the “Surrealist Writing Rule with Comic Addendum” that he learned while teaching a class with Antonya Nelson.
- How do you find time to write while teaching? Jennifer De Leon writes about the difficult balance between work and writing.
- If your writing students are younger than college-age, say in elementary school, you might appreciate Julia Ventola’s post on teaching writing at 826 Chicago.
On Teaching from Around the Web
- In this article from The New York Times, David Gessner reflects on the pros and cons of being a creative writing teacher.
- The Atlantic tackles the question of whether creative writing can be taught in “Show or Tell” by Louis Menand.
- Sonya Chung explores “What We Teach When We Teach Writers: On the Quantifiable and the Uncertain” in The Millions.
Learning Resources from Ploughshares and Around the Web
- Is your writing languishing after the summer? Rebecca Meacham walks you through how to recommit and save your writing relationship.
- We’ve asked writing students to fill us in on their epiphanies and lessons learned. Check out their “Writing Lessons.”
- Missing the classroom? Try listening to lectures and readings from Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference for free from iTunes.
- For more conversations about writing, watch the videos of the keynote readings from the 2013 AWP Conference in Boston.
Image by Todd Petrie
