Reading Rural YAL

In this episode, I embark on a new feature of RRYAL – talking about trade books! Teaching English in Rural Communities is a book I wish I would’ve had when I was a rural English teacher. Here I provide a summary and reading of the first few pages. I hope this is helpful to all the rural ELA teachers out there. Sound off in the comments if you have questions or want to chat.

In this bonus episode of Reading Rural YAL, Dr. Jenn Sanders, one of the co-founders of the Whippoorwill Award for Rural Young Adult Literature discusses how and why the award got started, how winners are selected, and what she hopes the Whippoorwill does for rural teachers and students.

To see past winners and learn more, visit: https://whippoorwillaward.weebly.com/

You can also follow the Whippoorwill Committee @WhippoorwillCo1 on Twitter and @whippoorwillcommittee on Instagram

In this episode I discuss possibilities for trauma-based teaching THE GONE AWAY PLACE. Not only are they trauma-based, but they’re arts-integrated to boot!

In this episode, Christopher Barzak and I cover *a lot* of ground. Because of our shared rural Midwestern experiences, we spend quite a bit of time talking about aspects of rural culture that we both recognize and have experienced. We also talk about his experiences in the global rural through his time living and teaching in Japan, the importance of rural representation in story, and his writing process.

Wanna know about something specific? Here are some of the major topics of our conversation and their time codes :

• 01:37 Where he’s from and its impact on his writing
• 05:15 Searching for home in new places
• 07:35 Sharing aspects of our rural culture
• 10:29 How he defines rural
• 13:00 Our experiences in 4-H
• 17:10 Raising chickens in the suburbs and the role of animals on the farm
• 19:00 Connecting to rural community through reading and seeing it in literature
• 24:27 The exploitation and marginalization of rural America
• 26:33 Disrupting the rural monolith
• 32:50 The global rural
• 38:11 The role of festival in rural collective identity building
• 42:05 His writing process and how its changed over time
• 46:16 Narrative structure of THE GONE AWAY PLACE and experimenting with collective ghost story
• 54:30 Collective trauma in rural places
• 1:00:12 Future projects
• 1:003:11 Advice to writers
• You can find more about Chris and what he’s up to on his website.

In this episode, I talk about how The Gone Away Place helped me think about the way trauma and loss affect rural towns. I share how it connects to some of the (un)processed traumas I experienced while living in my 800 or so person hometown.

In this episode, I talk about how the physical location and the natural damage to the landscape shape the story and readers’ experience and understanding of it.

In this episode, I give a brief summary of Christopher Barzak’s Whippoorwill Award Winning book, The Gone Away Place, and give a reading of the first pages.

Wanna learn more about the Whippoorwill Award? Visit https://whippoorwillaward.weebly.com

In this episode, I talk with Pedro Brown Hoffmeister about so many things! To say this was a great conversation is a massive understatement. Pedro is such an insightful human being and excellent storyteller. This one is definitely a can’t-miss conversation.

If you enjoy it even half as much as I did, I would appreciate if you would like, comment, subscribe. It would help me out immensely. Also, if you’re listening to the podcast version, if you could review it on Apple Podcasts, etc. that would also help me and help other folks find it. Thanks so much!

• 02:02 Why rural stories matter
• 10:19 The rural setting of TOO SHATTERED
• 17:49 Making sense of the world through nature
• 21:12 Capturing the complexity of humanity
• 24:45 How being the worst writer in the class can be the best thing
• 30:30 The importance of revision
• 34:17 The metro-centricity & middle-class privilege in curriculum
• 37:55 The need for a more diverse teaching force
• 45:50 Ideas and techniques for teaching writing
• 48:43 Authentic rural dialogue
• 59:10 Future projects – AMERICAN AFTERLIFE
• 1:02:28 Race, racism, and rurality

In this episode, I outline a lesson focused on human/environment interactions in which students complete a mutligenre project for authentic audiences.

In this episode, I discuss my reactions to the text as a rural reader.

• Townes Van Zandt songs to check out:
  • “Tecumseh Valley”
  • “Waiting’ Around to Die”
  • “If I Needed You”
• Ash Beckham TED Talk: “Owning Your Duality”