Writing from the Senses

Just finished teaching my first multi-week class at Northwestern University’s Lifetime Learning Center. The class I designed was Writing from the Senses, so I spent 8 weeks leading students through sense-prompted writing exercises, class discussion and critique—all designed to improve their use of metaphor and help them write more vivid characters and descriptions. We discussed writers from Collette, Proust, and Hemingway to Aimee Bender, Sandra Cisneros, and Stuart Dybek. What a blast—I expect to be teaching variations of this course for years to come.

Networking Across the City, Across Genres

Yesterday, I moderated a panel for Northwestern University's Career Day, titled "Networking Across the City, Across Genres." Krista Franklin, Mare Swallow, and David Welch were the (amazing) panelists and we spent a lively hour discussing:   

• "Networking" as a dirty word

• Attending readings and performances

• Working with other kinds of creative artists

• Chicago being a city of often divided neighborhoods, and breaking down some of those boundaries to participate in other lit communities besides our own

• The Conference, founded by Mare, and how it brings people together

Career Day Schedule Flyer