Poetry, creativity, literacy in schools and communities

Creative writing for arts-enriched learning

I read and perform poetry on the radio, in coffee houses, in small-town schools, art galleries, indy book stores, occasional bars. I’ve read poems in bank lobbies, beauty parlors, islands eight miles off the Atlantic coast, at the tops of ski slopes, in two of Robert Frost’s barns and in Emily Dickinson’s backyard.

I teach poetry, creative writing, and image making, through author visits, writers’ workshops, masters’ classes and craft lectures.  I’m grant-eligible throughout New England, Vermont, and New Hampshire. I work both independently and through the Vermont Arts Council and the NH State Council on the Arts, Arts in Education rosters. I’ve worked with Poetry Out Loud in both NH and VT.

I serve as an ambassador for children’s literacy in small, rural, under-served towns in Vermont and New Hampshire through the Children’s Literacy Foundation. I teach parents about the importance of reading for and with children. I share the importance of poetry and literary arts with students and teachers. I visit school and library summer reading programs. I host poetry readings and young authors’ nights in schools.

I teach professional development for teachers and enjoy interdisciplinary curriculum, welcome collaborations with teachers in all subjects. Together we’ve created arts-enhanced curricula that’s fun, challenging, inclusive and multifaceted.

I believe in a playful experiential approach to teaching creative writing. I explore with learners the fine and literary arts using literature, sound, radio, photography and performance. We write, share, play and collaborate in order to create with each other the intertwined worlds of poetry, art, science, and the humanities.

For concrete Arts in Education information regarding availability and remuneration visit my profile at NEFA’s CreativeGround.