Dispatches from the Classroom: Graduate Students on Creative Writing Pedagogy

"Joe Rein, Chris Drew, David Yost, and the other essayists...[have] taken creative writing pedagogy to the next level."
- Stephanie Vanderslice, author of Rethinking Creative Writing

"In Dispatches from the Classroom you go right up to where the teaching is done. This book is full of hard-won advice and smart thinking...The essays here aren't merely reflections on what worked one day and what didn't another--rather, they're researched explorations into what's possible in the creative writing classroom. Possible, and necessary."
- Liam Callanan, English Department Chair, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Dispatches from the Classroom is a collection of pedagogical essays written by graduate students with an emphasis on practical classroom application. Divided into four sections--Laying the Ground Rules, What is "Appropriate" for the Workshop?, Teaching "Technique", and The Hybrid TA--Dispatches explores issues of daily concern to creative writing instructors as they relate to recent theoretical discussions in the discipline. The essays within cover a wide variety of classroom matters, from traditional creative writing issues such as workshop, revision, grading, and craft, to the more contemporary issues of censorship, research, and mental health. Also examined is the unusual blend of tasks that Teaching Assistants face, addressing ways that creative writers can apply their skills across disciplines.