MFA in Creative Writing - Eugenia Kim

Teaching Philosophy

My approach to teaching writing is shaped by a former career in painting and graphic design. Learning technique and craft is essential, but writing requires attention to process and journey - from tasting words to discovering the answer to a question you hadn't known you were asking. I think that our struggle as writers is to not only balance "the life of the mind and the life of the senses," as author John Williams (Stoner) says, but to find ways each can intensify the other. My responsibility as a teacher, and what I find so rewarding, is to explore the unique way each student approaches this balance in their work. Focused reading of great books helps breed this dual path, and encourages a lifelong habit of learning, awareness, and enriched writing.