All Blog Posts (6)

Why would a science teacher and ag science teacher have a writing teacher join them and thirty-five students on a stream clean-up community service adventure? That's easy! It has to do with the way a writing teacher perceives the day's events.

Liz Phillips (far left sporting a new NWP cap) with some of her past, pr… Continue

Appalachian author Silas House has challenged writers to follow James Still's advice to "Discover Something New Every Day." He is blogging every day about his own discoveries. The Ning is a great place for you to do the same. What a great way to keep the creative juices flowing, and a great classroom activity!. To see Silas' blog, visit: http://silashouseblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/on-beauty-discovering-81409.html His latest entry is a tearjerker. Continue

I just got home from the 2009 Writing Retreat at the Breaks, where I have been writing, laughing, singing, and eating with some incredibly talented people. Before I go further, I want to thank Robin and Rita for their hard work in putting this together. I heard all three of the authors say it was one of the best retreats they'd ever attended (these are people who go to many, many of these in one year). Kate even said it was the best she had ever been treated at such an event. I'm a little embar… Continue

A nice lady came today and told me that I was going to be released from the concentration camp. My mind reeled at the notion. Can it really be? She said that the organization she is with has worked for many years to free me and others like me from these chains we have carried all of our lives. I’m giddy at the possibilities of this new life. Can it really be true, though? Or is this some pie in the sky notion? Does this life of freedom really exist? The camp is all I have known since I was a lit… Continue

The Miracle of Writing (written October 6, 2007) There are times in your life when you realize it is a miracle that you are in the right place at the right time. The divining rod of destiny strikes a delicate chord, and if you are attuned, you discover yourself participating in a venture that changes your life. Today was a divining day, one of several this week, unique and at decibels that cannot be ignored by angels or by the human spirit. Some may call it Divine Intervention or Divin… Continue

Nine years into the AWP, I found myself still struggling with defining who we were and what we were about. I struggled with the model and how to make it work. As we approach our first decade together, it's finally becoming clear. These were the things I knew for sure: *That I've made lifelong friends since the first summer institute *That the AWP gives me a place to belong as a writer and researcher *That the possibilities for growing the site are so limitless I have felt intimidated by them T… Continue