Internationally acclaimed Mexican American writer Carmen Tafolla will deliver a performance of her work and lead writing workshops for teachers during the 10th annual fall conference of the South Texas Writing Project on Friday and Saturday at Laredo Community College.
Tafolla,
a writing instructor at the University of Texas at San Antonio recognized as “a
world-class writer” by Roots author Alex Haley, will deliver the keynote
address for the STWP conference on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Kazen College Center.
A reception will be held immediately after Tafolla's presentation.
Tafolla will conduct writing workshops on Saturday.
A native of San Antonio, Tafolla is recognized by the National Association for Chicano Studies for her outstanding contributions to the arts and academia.
As author, Tafolla has written several books, including Sonnets and Salsa, and Recognizing the Silent Monster: Racism in the ’90s, and Red Boots and Attitude: The Spirit of Texas Women Writers. She also has written a children’s book, Baby Coyote and the Old Woman.
Writing teachers of all grade levels, including college and university, are invited to attend the two-day conference at LCC. The registration fee is $35, which includes lunch on Saturday. For more information about the conference, contact South Texas Writing Project Director and LCC English instructor Lucinda Farrokh at 721-5491.
“Although the conference has a TAKS focus for public school teachers, sessions will present research-based strategies that all teachers of writing can and should use,” Farrokh said.
On Saturday, registration is from 8 to 8:30 a.m. in the Adkins Building Arena Theater area. The workshop sessions will be held in the Adkins Building from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The research-based and classroom-ready best practices sessions will be presented by STWP teacher consultants and invited guests, including two sessions in Spanish.
“Session presenters are teacher consultants who have attended the STWP Summer Institute, a 126-hour training program, and they are sharing their expertise,” Farrokh said.
She added that the STWP teachers strive to improve the teaching of writing by studying research on writing, examining the practices of successful and respected published writers, and creating a community of teacher-writers.
“We believe that writing can be taught, and that as students acquire and practice the skills of good writing, they become competent writers. We also stress the need to apply these skills to writing in a wide variety of genres,” Farrokh said.
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