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Classroom Experience
It’s been said that only two questions matter in regards to creative work: “Is it alive, or dead?” I ask students to probe further: what’s alive, what’s dead, and what’s sleeping that could be shaken awake?
I taught creative writing at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon from 2010-2017. My pedagogy is an inquiry-based, process-centered approach that elevates questions above answers, experimentation over the safe fulfillment of requirements, and an appreciation of craft over talent. And it must be fun. Courses:
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Poetry is ...Instead of taking attendance, I ask my students to define poetry. Every day. In just six words. I got the idea from Hemingway's six-word story: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." So much can be said and learned within the constraints of those six words.
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Workshops
I enjoy teaching about the power of words in a variety of formats, from one-day guest lectures to week-long intensive creative writing camps. I first discovered my love for teaching while using poems in English conversation classes during my service with Literacy AmeriCorps. I earned my MFA in poetry from the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, and I have a BA in literature and creative writing from Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington.
Here are a few examples of my recent workshops or presentations:
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