Voilà! Raising Spirits and Conjuring Magic in the Poetry Classroom
There is something about that word, voilà, at the start of the poem that generates a little magic.
T&W articles about the art of teaching creative writing, interviews and lesson plans by international writers and educators
There is something about that word, voilà, at the start of the poem that generates a little magic.
Sharoon writes about introducing a English creative writing workshop to international educators in Indian academic circles, as a model for nurturing creativity and language skills in their students.
She writes: “The workshop became the shinrinyoko for many participants. In writing, they made a journey: towards themselves and towards finding meaning in why they do what they do.”
“I urge my students, whether elementary school age or adults, to work for “abundance” as they walk: Look hard, pick up the messages in the cracks you’ve stepped over every single morning. Later you can choose among your riches for your poem” Naomi Shahib Nye writes. In this T&W archive article from 1997, Nye writes about her experience teaching in San Antonio where she and her students read poetry by Latinx poets closely, to inspire their writing processes, attentiveness to detail and their perceptions of their neighborhoods.