Elizabeth Powell
- Poetry Mentor
- MFA in Writing
Additional Information
Biography
ELIZABETH A.I. POWELL is the author of three books of poems, most recently “Atomizer” (LSU Press). Her second book of poems, “Willy Loman’s Reckless Daughter: Living Truthfully Under Imaginary Circumstances” was a “Books We Love 2016” by The New Yorker. The Boston Globe has called her recent work “wry and fervent” and “awash in synesthesiastic revelation.” Her novel, “Concerning the Holy Ghost's Interpretation of JCrew Catalogues” was published in 2019 in the U.K. Recent poems appear or are forthcoming in The New Republic, American Poetry Review, Women’s Review of Books, among others. She is Editor of Green Mountains Review, and Professor of Creative Writing at Northern Vermont University.
Teaching Philosophy
“Theodore Roethke’s keen observation in his poem, ‘The Waking,’ underlies my teaching philosophy: ‘I learn by going where I need to go.’ I believe in kinesthetic learning, hands-on, experiential learning. Part of my teaching philosophy reflects an interest in how an individual’s vision can change, strengthen, alter, and interact with the world, beginning in community. I seek to promote creativity through finding an honest voice. My teaching endeavors to encourage students to see and understand how the creative process, critical reading, and discussion can help one make sense of and think critically about their work and its relationship to our larger community and environment. Within this context, my pedagogy aims to increase knowledge of craft, develop vision, and clarify values and voice, as well as personal and professional goals. Writing is a process, as is living, and for the moments our lives intersect, I want the most genuine interaction I can have with my students, where they learn from me, and I in turn, learn from them. Above all, I endeavor to maintain a teaching style that is respectful, engaging, creative, intelligent, inspiring, friendly, serious, dignified, self-affirming.”
