Today begins my annual weeklong virtual course with the Yale Young Writers’ Workshop. Each year, I take a week off my day job and focus all my energy on 12 brilliant, motivated, word-obsessed teens whose writerly dreams and aspirations mirror those I had back when I was their age (see very dusty photo below).
This year, I’m teaching fiction. Our common text is Jennifer McCauley’s amazing collection of short stories, When Trying to Return Home. My farthest away students are in the UAE and Pakistan. The nearest is just a few miles down the highway. It’s a marvelous mix, and I can’t wait to dive into their work.
Remember that thing Toni Morrison said?
“Teaching is about taking things apart; writing is about putting things together.”
I love being on both sides of this so if you see me this week, you’ll know why I’m grinning.