- Consult universities and colleges within your area. Many may have talented writers on their staff who can agree to any of the following arrangements:
- Visiting to a class or series of classes for a one-day lecture/workshop.
- Leading a mini-class (once a week/month) at a convenient time at your school.
- Inviting students to attend a lecture or sit in on a class at their college or university.
- Telementoring (through email) an individual student or group of students.
- Universities and colleges often invite celebrated writers to lecture on their campus. Consult calendars from these institutions to find out when these appearances are scheduled or contact their public relations department. These events are usually open to the public and often presented without charge. If you would like your students to attend one of these lectures, you might want to contact the college or university. Sometimes other private events are scheduled around such an appearance, and you may be given an invitation to attend them as well.
Other places where events like this are held include museums, libraries, and book stores.
- Many cities and regions have coffee bars or cafes where open mike sessions allow a variety of artists to share their poems, stories, or plays. Consider a field trip to one of these venues. Perhaps your students would like to share their works as well.
- Consider subscribing to magazines that feature good writing, checking them out at the library, or visiting their online editions. Some resources suggested by teachers featured in Developing Writers include Atlantic Monthly, Harper's Magazine, and Sports Illustrated (for its gusto and descriptions.) Ask your students what they are reading as well. Invite them to bring copies in for your review and potential use in writing discussions.
- Many working authors have their own Web sites, or are featured parts of their publishers' Web sites. This is a brief list of sites connected to some of the writers featured in this Developing Writers. The authors are listed in alphabetical order. A search engine such as Google can help you uncover other sites related to these writers.
Kevin Brooks
Search for materials on this author from the Barnes and Noble's Web site.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
Judith Ortiz Cofer
This author's Web site
http://parallel.park.uga.edu/~jcofer/home.html
Brock Haussamen
Tips on Teaching Grammar
http://www.ateg.org/grammar/tips.htm
Margo Jefferson
Search for Ms. Jefferson's columns on the New York Times Web site; the site requires free registration.
http://nytimes.com/
Patrick Jennings
Search for materials about his author on Scholastic's Web site.
http://scholastic.com
Maxine Hong Kingston
An extensive bibliography from Malaspina University College in British Columbia
http://www.malaspina.com/site/person_718.asp
Tracy Mack
A Web site for her new book Birdland is billboarded as "coming soon" on Scholastic's umbrella Web site.
http://www.scholastic.com
Ruthanne Lum McCunn
This author's Web site
http://www.mccunn.com/
Christopher Myers
Search for materials about his author on Scholastic's Web site.
http://scholastic.com
Amy Tan
A brief biography with links
http://www.barclayagency.com/tan.html
Rebecca Wheeler
This author's home page at Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Virginia
http://www.cnu.edu/engl/wheeler.html
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