Category Archives: pedagogy

the young poets assess

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Finally, I’ve had a chance to go through my student evaluations for Poetry Writing, a class I taught earlier this year in the spring. Here are a few of the highlights, one has even deemed me a “poetess.” Who knew?

I truly have become a better writer and reader of poetry. This class taught me how to utilize line and meter with a variety of forms and much needed experience.

 

She is a brilliant poetess who knows her craft very well, and this shines through in the way that she teaches it. Her willingness to work with students was also admirable.

 

She is very helpful and knows how to make poetry make sense. One of the best teachers I have had my first year at college.

 

I learned how to better analyze poetry. I now take into account how it is written, what words were chosen and where the lines end.

 

Reading the poetry book by Sherman Alexie, his styles really influenced me to [be] more creative with imagery. I really liked reading poems from Native Guard as well. Reading them and then deciphering them as a class really helped me understand them better.

 

I loved the readings, the personal writing time, and the fact that there were a lot of papers to write! It was an active class!

recent news

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Since my last post, so much has happened. Thus, I present you a bulleted list.

  • On Valentine’s Day at 7 p.m I read at Crescent Moon‘s reading series “Poetry on the Moon” with Mary K. Stillwell, and several others who read afterward during the open mic. I had a wonderful time reading from My Imaginary and Ghost Girl, and from my two forthcoming collections Branding Girls, and Sprung forthcoming from San Francisco Bay Press. I had such a great time! I even read a few poems from my dissertation on Matilda Fletcher. I’ll be reading at “Poetry on the Moon” a little later this spring. More on that soon.
  • Earlier that day, I successfully defended the above mentioned dissertation. I am thrilled! It was a good conversation, with thought provoking questions and suggestions. I’m very much looking forward to my continued research on Matilda to see what other opportunities Matilda might inspire in my future writing.
  • Coming up in the very near future, I am reading tomorrow from my dissertation at No Limits, 9 a.m. March  5, 2011, in Kearney in the UNK Nebraskan Union (Ponderosa Rooms).
  • At the end of spring break, I will also be reading at Red River Graduate Student Conference at 3:15 on March 26 at North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND. I’m very excited to see North Dakota. I had the opportunity to read at the Western Literature Association in October 2009 that was held in Spearfish, SD, which gave me a little bit of time to see beautiful South Dakota. Such lovely country! I cannot wait to see the landscape in and around Fargo, as well as some friends and family along the way in Iowa and Minnesota, including my two nephews and the new one on the way due this July. During the reading, I might even sneak in a poem or two from Branding Girls.
  • Speaking of Branding Girls, I’m thrilled to have my first course adoption! Yeah! Yeah! Carole Levin will be teaching Branding Girls in her history course on Saints, Witches, and Madwomen here at UNL in the pre-session this summer. When I took Carole’s class in the summer of 2009, we read such wonderful books and had such great discussions, including a day that focused entirely on advertising, branding, and the commodification of the body, which fits perfectly with Branding Girls. In conjunction with the course adoption, she’s invited me to read in her class and in town. More on that soon. I’m so thrilled!
  • The final, but certainly not last, thing I want to share is news on an anthology. My essay “Dear Diary: Violence, Confession, and Creative Writing Pedagogies” was accepted in 2009 by the editors of Dispatches from the Classroom: Graduate Student Essays on Creative Writing. The editors, Dave Yost, Joe Rein, and Chris Drew, now have a contract with Continuum Press, scheduled to publish the anthology soon. I am over the moon! My essay, originally written as individual papers that I delivered at AWP in 2009, NWSA in 2008, and Split this Rock in 2008, I combined, revised, and reworked them to eventually become one of my scholarly essays in my comprehensive exams for the PhD. I am so excited that all that hard work I did in writing the academic piece, now has a home, and soon, will be out there in the world.
work to see what other opportunities Matilda might inspire in my future writing

Sprung’s first blurb

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I’ve just received my first blurb from Grace Bauer for Sprung, forthcoming from San Fransisco Bay Press next year. Grace is an amazing poet and teacher. The first poetry workshop I took at UNL was with Grace. For her class, rather than read a dozen or so poetry collections, she asked the students to read current issues of poetry journals, such as The American Poetry Review, Prairie Schooner, Fence, and Poetry, and write responses to the journal’s aesthetic. In class we would workshop poems and discuss the journal. The issue of Poetry I chose happened to be an issue that focused on humor. The following class, Grace also brought in an essay that discussed the use of humor by poets such as Denise Duhamel. I remember being fascinated, in part because I hadn’t really considered poetry as something that was funny or could be funny. Up to that point, I’d only brought serious poems to be workshopped.

Grace is the author of several chapbooks and two books, Beholding Eye and Retreats and Recognitions. Her books are wonderful, surprising, and indeed, humorous. She was also the editor for Prairie Schooner‘s baby-boomer issue. Her introduction is a must read. She’s a hoot at poetry readings. At the first reading I attended of hers, she wore a lapel pin crafted out of an old dial to a dishwasher (I think). I’ve just ordered her edited collection, Umpteen Ways of Looking at a Possum.

Here’s Grace on Sprung:

The series of poems that comprise Laura Madeline Wiseman’s Sprung feature an unlikely antagonist. Alter ego? Animus? Evil twin? Master manipulator? Muse? Imaginary friend? Or foe? Wiseman is a smart woman, a gutsy poet who seduces the reader with possibilities in this delightfully disturbing collection.

Thanks, Grace.

News for a new semester

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I’m super excited because The Sow’s Ear Review and Illya’s Honey have accepted poems of mine for their forthcoming issue. I love it when my poems find homes.

Second, I received my contributor’s copy of the current issue of Eclipse, which includes a great piece by Judith Slater, also a member of the UNL community. My piece, “Hypotheses (or In the Lake of the Woods) is a poem I wrote in response to the Tim O’Brien novel, a book I taught in one of my composition and rhetoric classes. The poem also appears in my poetry collection Ghost Girl. In 2008, Tim O’Brien was the writer-in-residence here. I was lucky enough to take his master workshop. It was an unforgettable experience.

Third, my contributor’s copy of the anthology hell strung and crooked from Unhook Press has also just arrived. Yeah! It includes  a great interview with Mark Doty. Speaking of the poet, I’ve read a few of his books, but my current favorite is his memoir Dog Years. It’s a wonderful book. One of the best memoirs I read last winter.

And finally, today is the first day of a new semester. I’m teaching a composition class and a poetry class. The latter is my favorite class to teach because it combines women’s studies, women’s literature, and creative writing into a class called English 253A: poetry writing: Women’s Poetry. Along with a few short essays, this term I’m teaching Anne Sexton’s Transformations, Louise Gluck’s Averno, Natasha Trethewey’s Bellocq’s Ophelia, Carole Oles’ Waking Stone, Denise Duhamel’s Kinky and Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux’s edited text The Poet’s Companion. It’s going to be an amazing class. I’m so excited!

students

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With the first week of classes done I want to thank all my new women’s poetry students and intro to lit students for starting off the semester wonderfully!

And while I’m at it, I want to thank my fantastic students in my women and poetry class I had last spring and my amazing students I had this summer in women and popular culture. Each day the latter group arrived ready to discuss and contribute insightful comments. My favorite day was an activity in which I asked them to work in groups to design the cover of a girl’s or women’s magazine that some how interrupted and challenged the majority of magazines aimed at those gendered female. Here’s a picture of their work on the whiteboard:

You can zoom in here. Some of my favorite features of their ‘zines included, “How to Dress Your Body,” “Girls Night In,” “Guide to Healthy Living: How to Love Your Body,” and “Sexuality Vs. Sexualization.” It’s classroom moments like these that remind me why I love teaching.

naomi shihab nye

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Today is the last day of a two week poetry and creative nonfiction workshop  by Naomi Shihab Nye I’ve had the honor of taking. She’s funny, down to earth, warm, and endlessly generous. Last week she gave a wonderful reading at the Great Plains, reading pieces from Honeybee and Your & Yours, including two of my favorites: “Gate 4-A” and a piece on the McNay Museum. Several of my students attended the readings and almost all of my women’s poetry class. They were as excited and enthralled as I was. One student said she was still giddy, a week later. The few who didn’t go, seemed visibly upset to have missed it.

awp 2009 – chicago

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Now that I’ve had a chance to recover from my first ever AWP, I thought I’d post a few photos. I presented in “‘Memory of Wounds’: Memoirists Tell Truth, Lies, and Memory” with Joy Castro (The Truth Book), Karen McElmurry (The Motel of Stars), Kelly Gray Carlisle (former managing editor of Prairie Schooner), Lucy Ferriss, and Carrie Anne Tocci. We had a great turn out. Here’s a few:

chicago awp 2009

chicago awp 2009

Besides my panel, I heard Jeanne Leiby (of The Southern Review) and Jocelyn Bartkevicius (of The Florida Review) share their wisdom in creative nonfiction, both in writing and as publishers. Also in nonfiction, Carrie Pomeroy explained her process in writing an essay about her mother. Robin Becker (my favorite of her books is All-American Girl), Katharine Haake, and others discussed creative writing pedagogy. And, I heard many, many more excellent writers, teachers, and editors speak, read, and advise. A great time all around.

Of course, I also took advantage of Chicago’s beautiful waterfront walk, museums, buildings, Michigan Avenue, and other pleasures. A few more concluding images:

the sub in the museum of science and industry

near navy pier

the bean