Institute offers opportunity to enhance teaching of literature and creative writing
This summer the University of New Mexico’s Taos Summer Writers’ Conference, recently named one of “10 great plDavid Brookshire to get write with the word” by USA Today, will offer New Mexico middle and high school teachers a weekend of workshops designed to enhance the teaching of literature and creative writing. The weekend culminates with a keynote address by internationally acclaimed poet and Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts Dana Gioia.
Photo: Dana Gioia will give the keynote address for the Taos Summer Teachers' Institute.
The Taos Summer Teachers’ Institute, a new addition to the Writers’ Conference, is scheduled July 16-17 at the Sagebrush Inn in Taos. The UNM Arts & Sciences Teachers’ Institute is sponsoring 50 middle and high school teachers from throughout New Mexico to attend the conference, including participation in all general sessions and three workshops, accommodations and some meals. Gioia’s address, scheduled July 17 at 5 p.m. in the Sagebrush Inn Conference Center, is free and open to the public.
Best known for “Can Poetry Matter?” his controversial essay on the role of poetry in contemporary culture, Gioia has a longstanding commitment to promoting poetry and the arts. Since becoming the ninth Chair of the NEA in February 2003, he has initiated several programs designed to heighten appreciation of the arts among young students. At the Institute, he will present on the NEA’s poetry recitation initiative. Gioia’s collection of poems, Interrogations at Noon, one of three full-length books of poetry, won the 2002 American Book Award. He also has edited several anthologies and translates poetry from Latin, Italian, German and Romanian.
“The participation of Dana Gioia and the National Endowment for the Arts raises this program to an event of national stature,” said Sharon Oard Warner, director of the creative writing program in UNM’s Department of English and founder of the Taos Summer Writers’ Conference. UNM Provost Reed Dasenbrock will introduce Gioia.
During the Institute, teachers will learn creative ways to engage students and foster a love of literature and writing. Workshops will represent a wide range of writing interests and strategies for teaching, including: “Teaching Poetry Creatively” with Diane Thiel, “Let Your Students Rant!” with Susan Erickson, “American Indian Literature in the Classroom” with Patricia Clark Smith, “Using Historical Fiction in the Classroom” with Carolyn Meyer, “Bringing Shakespeare to Life” with David Richard Jones, and “Teaching Writing in Difficult Times” with Don Zancanella.
In addition, the weekend will offer teachers a chance to converse with others in the profession about the challenges and rewards of the classroom. Textbook representatives and publishers will exhibit selected texts and teaching resources.
Registration is closed for the Taos Summer Teachers’ Institute. Gioia’s keynote address is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Sharon Oard Warner at 277-6248, Doug Earick at 266-2070, or email Graduate Assistant Carson Bennett at taosconf@unm.edu.
Contacts: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920 or Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-5813