Anthologies

Advice on making a book out of your student’s writing.

Here are Teachers & Writers Collaborative’s general guidelines on making class anthologies. Thanks to Harry Greenberg, who came up with many of these ideas!

Workshop residencies or a semester-long class in imaginative writing can end with a “culminating event,” often the publication of an anthology of students’ writing.

If you do an anthology, here are some things you need to decide:

Layout

When you lay out your pages, leave a margin of at least a half inch all the way around. If you don’t, some of your material may be cut off in the binding or the photocopying.

Cover, Title Page, and Introduction

The front and back covers can be photocopied with black ink on colored card stock. You can get a student to do some cover art, or do it yourself. The name of the school should appear on the cover. Crayon and pencil do not reproduce well. If a student does a cover in pencil, ask him or her to go over it with black ink.

Include a title page. The title page must include the following:

1. The name of the school.
2. The Principal’s name and the School Coordinator’s name (if applicable), spelled correctly.
3. The names of the teachers and the grades/classes with whom you worked. Make sure they’re spelled correctly.
4. Your name, followed by the title “Writer-in-Residence” or whatever is appropriate. For a professional look, reproduce the cover art on the title page. You should also leave three or four inches of space on this page for acknowledgements.

Include a brief preface or introduction. This can serve as a reminder to the students and teachers of what they did during your residency.

Editing

If you want to include more work than you have room for, consider reducing it to 70% or 80% on the office copier. Here are some editing tips:

1. Keep the writing organized from the beginning of your residency—in individual student folders, for instance.
2. Decide on a selection process. Will you involve your students in it or not? Figure out an editorial philosophy for each anthology: are you going to include every student’s work? How do you make sure every student participates in the culminating event? Many writers develop writing lessons that result in short pieces so they can include every student in the anthology. Your students can revise, edit, and proofread their own work if it’s typed up early enough. Use a word processor if one’s available.
3. Change spelling and grammar when incorrect but don’t automatically change the off-beat. Poet and teacher Kenneth Koch, in his book Wishes, Lies, and Dreams, describes a situation when a student wrote down “a swan of bees” instead of “a swarm of bees.” Mr. Koch loved the “mistake,” and after consulting with the student, both decided to keep the original swan. Always make sure to consult with the student, though. Invented spelling is O.K. for early drafts, but most students want their published work to be standardized.
4. If you tighten up students’ work by deletion, it’s best to do it so that they can approve the changes.
5. A word about censorship. Here are a few suggestions to avoid conflict with the school administration:

• If you have any questions about obscenities or offensive sayings, check with the school principal. Schools have different definitions of what is appropriate for their community.
• If you find a poem that you feel is wonderful but aren’t sure how the school will react, consider making a broadside of the piece and ask the student to put another poem in the anthology.