Articles, essays, editorials, and meditations on T&W’s mission, “educating the imagination.”
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By Olaya Barr Magical Realism has become the gateway of Latin American texts for most North American students. I can’t praise enough the serpentine works of Julio Cortázar and the uncanny humor of Gabriel García Márquez—these have influenced hundreds of authors and inspired literary movements across the world—but I suggest offering students some alternatives. Below,…
by Matthew Burgess This isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned Eugene. I remember exactly where he sat, second row back, in the seventh-grade class as PS 187. I remember his laser-beam smirk as I read aloud from Joe Brainard’s book, and before I could send the students into their own lists of “I remembers,” Eugene…
By Melissa McMullan “Can we start a club called Special for Special and do special things for people?” “That National Geographic article we read about the Paleolithic puppy got us thinking about doing our own story about the Paleolithic Era.” “We would like to design a DIY (Do It Yourself) project for the class where…
By Jehan Roberson A region wrapped in mythology and mystique, writing that has emerged and continues to emerge from the Caribbean is informed by the region’s long history as a site of colonial interest and greed, of numerous nations’ successful battles for liberation, and as a region of constant migratory flow. The writers listed here…
By Sheryl Lain I’d always jotted observations about my high school classroom and the students, but I didn’t consider these entries real writing, and I certainly wouldn’t want anyone else’s eyes but my own racing across the lines of words. Natalie Goldberg’s story in her book Writing Down the Bones changed all that. She told…
by Matthew Sharpe Following the attacks on September 11, 2001, I wanted to do something with my two Columbia University creative writing classes that addressed the disaster we had all just experienced. Each of the lessons I planned for my first class went awry. I began by asking my students to free write for five…
By Wynne Kontos In the video, Javan Howard stands in front of the room and asks us to repeat the words, “My voice will change the world.” The video was recorded last fall, when Howard helped teach a training session for incoming teaching artists and education associates at Teachers & Writers Collaborative. So I recognize…
By Sara Mansfield Taber To write well, a writer must be willing to transform himself. If his work is to grow toward its full potential, the writer must hone his manuscripts, of course, but first he must become a dedicated student of the literary craft. This is not as simple as it sounds, as it…
By Matthew Burgess Hafiz Ahmed is at the top of Ms. Ramelize’s roster. On the first day of my residency at PS 64 in Queens, I announce the coincidence to the class: “Hafiz is also the name of a great poet!” His namesake beams back at me and Lukis asks if I’ll bring Hafiz poems…
By Jacy Bryla “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, Eight MMM-Masks in my bank account, in my bank account,” echoes down a corridor in New York City’s American Museum of Natural History. The lyrical reinvention of 21 Savage’s “Bank Account” is sung by a middle school boy from PS/IS 218 Rafael Hernandez Dual Language…