Rainier Writing Workshop
"I am impressed with the caliber, commitment, and generosity of the faculty. Their willingness to engage with us in and out of our classroom made this experience unlike any other I've had."
Profile
Professional
Emphases
Fiction
Nonfiction
Responsibilities
Mentor. Workshops and classes in fiction and nonfiction.
Statement: "My greatest commitment as both a writer and a teacher is to writing that originates in deep personal investment because I believe that only by writing from this place in ourselves do we produce real art. For this reason, I think the most valuable expertise I can bring to my students is not my education in literature, nor what I've learned about craft after practicing it for twenty years, although I'll bring those, too. It's my ability to listen: to students, as they describe their interests, backgrounds, and aspirations, and to their drafts, from their earliest conceptions to their final stages. Through this kind of close listening, I help students find their passions. I guide them towards discovering and developing their own authentic voices. And I teach them to identify and then realize their drafts' richest potential."
Education
Degrees
Ph.D in English literature, University of Washington
Personal
Biography
Other prizes she has received include a Whiting Award, an NEA Grant, a Pushcart Prize, the Glasgow Prize, the New Millennium Award for creative nonfiction, and creative writing fellowships from the states of Washington, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Her fiction and essays have appeared in journals and anthologies like Orion, The Georgia Review, Poets and Writers, and New Stories from the South. She holds a Ph.D in English literature from the University of Washington.
