SPOTLIGHT! WORDS OF WISDOM FROM INSTRUCTOR Q!

We've been talking to our instructors about what makes them tick - as teachers, as writers and as language lovers! Enjoy learning a little more about Northern Virginia instructor Qinglan "Q" Wang.

What do you learn from your students? I love learning how my students see the world as a place full of color and endless possibilities!
 
How has teaching impacted your craft? Teaching has brought the art of improvisation and sharpening of writing technique to my personal writing.

What is a favorite word of yours? Use it in a sentence!  Mesmerize -- The glint of sun from the pond mesmerized the girl.
 
Share with us a quote or a poem that has been meaningful to you.

Porcupines by Marilyn Singer

Hugging you takes some practice.

So I'll start out with a cactus.

SPOTLIGHT! WORDS OF WISDOM FROM INSTRUCTOR EMILY PHILLIPS

We've been talking to our instructors about what makes them tick - as teachers, as writers and as language lovers! Enjoy learning a little more about longtime Bay Area instructor Emily Phillips.

What do you learn from your students? So many things! How to be brave, how to be silly, how to let go, how to be a better teacher, a better person...and the list goes on.
 
How has teaching impacted your craft? It has prompted me to follow the advice I give them: don't take my first drafts too seriously, take risks, think of the 5 senses and use strong active verbs. Be brave and have fun!

What is a favorite word of yours? Use it in a sentence!  What a preposterous question! All words are my favorite.
 
Share with us a quote or a poem that has been meaningful to you.

The Black Snake
by Mary Oliver

When the black snake
flashed onto the morning road,
and the truck could not swerve--
death, that is how it happens.

Now he lies looped and useless
as an old bicycle tire.
I stop the car
and carry him into the bushes.

He is as cool and gleaming
as a braided whip, he is as beautiful and quiet
as a dead brother.
I leave him under the leaves

and drive on, thinking
about death: its suddenness,
its terrible weight,
its certain coming. Yet under

reason burns a brighter fire, which the bones
have always preferred.
It is the story of endless good fortune.
It says to oblivion: not me!

It is the light at the center of every cell.
It is what sent the snake coiling and flowing forward
happily all spring through the green leaves before
he came to the road.
 

Spotlight! Words of Wisdom from Instructor Vanessa Flores

We've been talking to our instructors about what makes them tick - as teachers, as writers and as language lovers! Enjoy learning a little more about the Bay Area's Vanessa Flores, first in our Instructor Spotlight Series.

What do you learn from your students? Of course we all use our imaginations when we write, but TMWFI students are the best teachers when it comes to really allowing the imagination to run wild and free. Go ahead and let popsicles fall from the sky while your character is having an argument about pancakes with their little brother. The narrative can grow in big, magical ways when we let our imaginations not only lead us but push us toward the strange.

How has teaching impacted your craft? My students remind me to play. Graduate school can be very serious -- but one of the reasons I started writing in the first place was because it was a way to play and let go!

What is a favorite word of yours? Use it in a sentence! Rutabaga!  I'm not sure if I love the way rutabaga tastes, but I'm sure I love the way it sounds. 

Share with us a quote or a poem that has been meaningful to you. "You grow up the day you have the first real laugh at yourself." Ethel Barrymore

June's Teacher Spotlight

Want to get to know some of the creative writing masters behind “Take My Word For It!”? Meet this month’s teacher spotlight, Wes Solether!

Name: Wes Solether

Hometown: Lombard, Illinois

Who is your favorite author? Paul Celan

What’s your favorite NOUN? Constellation

If your life was a book, how would it begin? I would hope it would begin in the present tense.

Did a teacher or another writer inspire you to write? How? 

I took up writing really late in my life, compared to most of my friends and classmates. My sophomore year of college I took an introduction course in English literature. My professor was a poet and gave us a little sample of every genre of literature out there. We went through a play, poems, short stories and a novel. He taught Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything Is Illuminated. I didn't think anyone could write a book like that. It was experimental in the way it was composed, but it was still resonant and heartfelt in all the right places. I remember we once talked about pursuing a life in teaching and writing. He said very clearly it wasn't a calling he would recommend to anyone that expects money or fame. I remember it was the first time I said I wanted to write and teach and really meant it. I was inspired to try some creative writing workshops and now I'm finishing my MFA in Poetry at USF. Something must have clicked in that class!