January 2009
Nadia Kalman has published short stories in the Walrus, the Gettysburg Review, the Madison Review, the Antigonish Review, and other magazines. Nadia has also written for children, having collaborated on Living and Working Together: Neighborhoods, a social studies textbook; and The Letter Book, a series of poems for emerging readers.

How much do you revise?
A great deal! I think one of the most important lessons we need to teach young writers is that writing is not a talent so much as a practice. Everyone is capable of creating great work, as long as they are patient with their words.

What book have you read recently that you couldn’t put down?
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

How do you create lessons to appeal to as many students as possible?
Rather than trying for a one-size-fits-all lesson, I think about the individual students I’m trying to reach—their ages, interests, and cultural backgrounds. I also build in a lot of opportunities to differentiate lessons, and try to stay flexible while I’m teaching.

How much of yourself—your personal interests, your approach to writing—do you share in a classroom?
I make a point of writing alongside my students, to model useful practices and to show them that writing is real work.

What are your grammatical pet peeves?
I try not to have pet peeves, because everyone makes mistakes in their early drafts. Indeed, a technically perfect first draft can be a sign that the writer felt constrained.