Teacher

I have taught writing at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, the University of Minnesota, and currently at The Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis, where I teach creative nonfiction.

There is a moment in every creative writing class when I see a change on the faces of my students. They are adults with jobs and families, desires and frustrations, and they have arrived after battling rush hour and the weariness of work. I give them ten minutes and a writing prompt that sends them off into their imaginations.

Think about a major life event—or what happened this morning as you walked the dog. When I say the time is up, I call them back into the present. They are startled. They raise their heads, and that’s when I see the change. The crankiness and fatigue are gone and their faces are alight. Their spirits are refreshed, restored, alive. Writing does that.