“William Zinsser turns his zest, warmth and curiosity—his sharp but forgiving eye—on his own story. The result is lively, funny and moving, especially for anyone who cares about art and the business of writing well.” —Evan Thomas, Newsweek In Writing Places, William Zinsser—the author of On Writing Well, the bestseller that has inspired two generations of writers, journalists, and students—recalls the many colorful and instructive places where he has worked and taught. Gay Talese, author of A Writer’s Life, calls Writing Places, “Wonderful,” while the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette praises this unique memoir for possessing “all the qualities that Zinsser believes matter most in good writing—clarity, brevity, simplicity and humanity.”

Part of the Longman Topics reader series, Writing Places encourages students to examine the locations that define their past, present and future. As students begin to think critically and to write about these places, they realize that location is an enormous part of identity -- both personally and academically. This collection of readings offers a poignant and, oftentimes, moving variety of essays from writers of all ages, styles, and backgrounds. It is designed to be flexible to any teaching method and any composition class. The text is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is an introduction for both instructors and students to the concept of writing about place. The middle two chapters divide the essays by the period of time represented in the author's work. The last chapter provides valuable instruction from start to finish for wiriting about place. It focuses specifically on how to better understand the meaning of place in life and writing. "Longman Topics" are brief, attractive readers on a single, complex, but compelling topic. Featuring about 30 full-length selections, these volumes are generally half the size and half the cost of standard composition readers.

WRITING PROGRAMS WORLDWIDE offers an important global perspective to the growing research literature in the shaping of writing programs. The authors of its program profiles show how innovators at a diverse range of universities on six continents have dealt creatively over many years with day-to-day and long-range issues affecting how students across disciplines and languages grow as communicators and learners.

“This is such a pleasure to read. Unlike most books with writing prompts, this one goes in depth with sensitizing you to ground yourself in awareness of where you are and why. Grazie, Linda, for this marvelous work.”—Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun In this engaging creative writing workbook, novelist and poet Linda Lappin presents a series of insightful exercises to help writers of all genres—literary travel writing, memoir, poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction—discover imagery and inspiration in the places they love. Lappin departs from the classical concept of the Genius Loci, the indwelling spirit residing in every landscape, house, city, or forest—to argue that by entering into contact with the unique energy and identity of a place, writers can access an inexhaustible source of creative power. The Soul of Place provides instruction on how to evoke that power. The writing exercises are drawn from many fields—architecture, painting, cuisine, literature and literary criticism, geography and deep maps, Jungian psychology, fairy tales, mythology, theater and performance art, metaphysics—all of which offer surprising perspectives on our writing and may help us uncover raw materials for fiction, essays, and poetry hidden in our environment. An essential resource book for the writer’s library, this book is ideal for creative writing courses, with stimulating exercises adaptable to all genres. For writers or travelers about to set out on a trip abroad, The Soul of Place is the perfect road trip companion, attuning our senses to a deeper awareness of place.

There are many ways to travel between India and the UK in general, and Calcutta and Norwich in particular. You could take a plane and then the bus or the train, or perhaps a taxi. You could even sail. But what if you traveled via literature instead? In Writing Places you will find such a journey. This collection draws together stories, poems, photographs, memoirs, confessions, and investigations from some of the most imaginative writers and photographers working in the UK and India today to create a journey between the two lands that you can savor with your mind, heart, and even body. A unique work for armchair travelers, Writing Places lets us move between two countries that share a long history in a first-of-its-kind collection of words and images.

Examines the literary and cultural production of the provincial capital of Poitiers from the late 1560s through the early 1580s. This study considers influences on the salon and the city such as contemporary codes of conduct, the court sessions, and the religious wars.