Teachers & Writers Collaborative

Classics in the Classroom presents fascinating strategies for using great literature to inspire imaginative writing. The literature discussed in this volume includes myths, epics, lyric poems, plays, stories, and novels, from ancient Sumeria, Greece, Rome, and Persia, and from Europe, Japan, Africa, and the United States. Authors presented include Homer, Sappho, Aristophanes, Ovid, Catullus, Rumi, Shakespeare, Basho, Shelley, Charlotte Brontë, Mark Twain, and Hermann Hesse.
“English teachers at any level will find ideas and approaches that will liven up their classes.”—Kliatt

ISBN 0-915924-58-7

In these 21 lively essays, teachers and writers tell how they have used Spanish, Latin American, and Latino literature to inspire their students to create their own poems and stories. The literary models are drawn from both Spain and the Americas, and range from such early 20th century masters as Federico García Lorca and Pablo Neruda to contemporary writers like Sandra Cisneros. Among the distinguished contributors are Julia Alvarez, Martin Espada, and Naomi Shihab Nye.

ISBN 0-915924-52-8

In Sing the Sun Up, 20 writers present new and exciting ways to motivate students to write imaginatively, inspired by African American poetry, prose, and drama. Teachers of English literature, creative writing, and Black studies will find this book to be an invaluable source for writing ideas and lessons. Among the authors discussed are James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, Countee Cullen, Rita Dove, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jean Toomer.
“An excellent resource…well written, instructive, and enjoyable, every essay is a gem in itself.”—Voice of Youth Advocates

ISBN 0-915924-54-4

In “The American Scholar,” Ralph Waldo Emerson called for a literature emerging from the particularities of the new nation, and a host of great 19th- and 20th-century American poets, fiction writers, and playwrights responded to his call. The T&W Guide to Classic American Literature, published in association with The Library of America, provides teachers of writing at all levels with a rich and diverse range of approaches and insights into American literature: from introducing third-graders to Gertrude Stein, to teaching Emily Dickinson to prisoners, to using the paradigm of Henry David Thoreau’s diaries in the college classroom. This is an inspiring collection for anyone who teaches American literature or imaginative writing—or who is passionate about either.

0-915924-71-4

This T&W Guide provides ways for students to experience Frederick Douglass’ Narrative as an aesthetic achievement as well as a socio-historical document. This book emphasizes writing as a means for students to learn about Douglass, his times, and his legacy, as well as about themselves. Contributors include poets, writers, and teachers from across the country: Lorenzo Thomas, Margot Fortunato Galt, Ron Padgett, and Marv Hoffman. “An impressive collection, well-written…very usable…particularly inspiring.”—Contemporary Education.

ISBN 0-915924-46-3

Fifteen poets have created this first and only guide to teaching Walt Whitman from kindergarten to the college level. The book features fresh ways to read Whitman and to write poetry and prose inspired by his model. Also included are 3 pieces on education by Whitman and a discussion of Whitman as teacher. Among the contributors are Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, Kenneth Koch, and Langston Hughes.
“A lively, fun, illuminating book!”—Ed Folsom, The Walt Whitman Quarterly

ISBN 0-915924-36-6

This T&W guide brings together 17 innovative essays on using the work of William Carlos Williams to inspire writing by students and adults. The book covers a wide range of Williams’s oeuvre—from such classics as “The Red Wheelbarrow” to his epic poem “Paterson,” as well as his short fiction and novels. The guide also includes a comprehensive essay about Williams audiocassettes and videotapes, and an annotated bibliography. Contributors include Julia Alvarez, Allen Ginsberg, and Kenneth Koch.
“This book is wonderful—such a thorough and fine job.”—Robert Coles, Harvard University

ISBN 0-915924-57-9