In this episode, we discuss:

Creative writing, skateboarding and teaching amid the pandemic with John Thurgood. How are we stories within stories? What does it mean to explore a place through skateboarding and art? How do we connect course materials to students’ lived experiences?

Highlights include:

A quote from Kyle Minor’s Praying Drunk (1:45)Creative writing and skateboarding (7:31)Piquing students’ curiosities and getting them invested in composition through researching the communities they live in (13:15)How we’re stories within stories (15:11)Balancing a rigorous curriculum with teaching and learning amid the coronavirus pandemic (21:10)Keeping an open dialogue with students and navigating what it is to be a student right now (27:13)How we as instructors can be catalysts for our students (35:57)

Resources Mentioned

Minor, Kyle. Praying Drunk: Stories, Questions. Sarabande Books, 2014. https://amzn.to/35Ahdrb

About John Thurgood

John Thurgood is a doctoral student and Advanced Opportunity Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His stories have appeared in Another Chicago Magazine, Story|Houston and elsewhere. His book reviews can be found at Electric Literature and Necessary Fiction. He has been a teacher and educator for ten years and has taught all over the US. Find more at www.johnthurgood.com.

Music

“Bird Therapist” by Craig MacArthur

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