Teaching LGBTQ+ Literature During the Pandemic
During the pandemic, students focused on queer trauma, but next time, I plan to ensure that they also explore queer joy.
Patient Urgency: Reading “The Immortalists” During the Pandemic
The pandemic has amped up my sense of urgency, my desire to make good use of my time. One new action I took was to start a Zoom book club for Mount Mercy English students and faculty this summer. I figured the pandemic would leave many students at loose ends, unable to travel or work, … Read more
White Fragility, Antiracism, Teaching, and Me
Amazon has sold out of antiracist books. Topping the bestseller lists are two titles I read this past semester before the pandemic hit: Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility (2018) and Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be An Antiracist (2019). This post is my response to the pairing. But first, what to make of the book news? … Read more
In Praise of Alliteration: Scriptotherapy and the Pandemic
You may be thinking, Alliteration? Really??? During a pandemic laced with murderous racism and police violence against the press? Let me explain. First of all, I started this post before George Floyd was murdered. And even before the pandemic, I felt like I was playing catch up—my writing unable to keep up with my thoughts, … Read more
In Praise of Mixed Feelings
One practice that is helping me through the pandemic so far is the effort to embrace both/and thinking, paradox, and mixed feelings.
REMAKING ACHILLES: Poetry by Carol Tyx
In this poetry collection about a prison protest, Carol Tyx shows the full range of what we humans are capable of, our worst and our best.
Loving the Questions: Starting a New Semester
Successful students—and people—ask questions. Lots of questions. They fearlessly and relentlessly ask for examples or clarification. They love the word ‘why.’ They like to know the reasons behind the skills they’re being asked to learn. And when they write, they expand their ideas by asking themselves why.
Lyz Lenz Talks GOD LAND at Prairie Lights
This past Friday, I laughed hard and thought hard at Prairie Lights. I was part of an enthralled inter-generational crowd listening to Lyz Lenz discuss her debut book, God Land: A Story of Faith, Loss, and Renewal in Middle America. The book combines the personal and the political. Lenz analyzes the cultural work performed by … Read more
Teaching the Work of a Visiting Writer
How do you make the most an author’s campus visit? How do you lay the groundwork? I’ve pondered these questions since I started teaching at Mount Mercy 26 years ago, back when my friend and colleague, the poet and essayist Jim McKean, directed our Visiting Writers Series. The questions have become more important to me … Read more
The Time Between Writing and Teaching
We’re midway through summer: that bittersweet time when I need to shift (or at least think about shifting) the focus of my work-life from writing to teaching. This summer, the shift feels more disorienting, yet richer in possibility, because I’ve been on sabbatical. Thanks to Mount Mercy University, I’ve been away from the classroom since … Read more