It shouldn’t surprise you that great writers also make talented educators. Lisa Stringfellow is no exception. I was thrilled to interview her about her approach to teaching writing, and her latest book Kingdom of Dust, neurodiversity and intersectionality.
Leonora Shell: As a teacher, you’ve spoken about writing with your students in the classroom. How do you engage young writers in creative writing?
Lisa Stringfellow: I usually start by asking my students to write about what creativity means to them. After they have thought about it, we discuss their ideas, and usually, the question comes up about whether creativity is a talent, something you are born with and just have, or a skill, something you can practice and get better at. Of course, my suggestion to them is that it is the latter. Everyone is creative and can write. Sometimes our inner voices can be loud and might tell us that our ideas or writing aren’t good enough. But in order to become confident writers, we have to keep writing.
When working on creative writing, such as during National Novel Writing Month, I try to write alongside my students and work on building a community of shared support and inspiration. When it’s time to revise our writing, I often share some of my writing and model how to give and receive feedback. My students have enjoyed reading parts of my novels before they have been published and have also given me great feedback that I have been able to incorporate into my final manuscripts.
Leonora: Your latest book, Kingdom of Dust, is one I know my fourth and sixth-grade daughters are excited to read. Who else do you recommend your newest book to and are there going to be discussion resources if they want to do a book club with their friends or classmates?
Lisa: Kingdom of Dust is my most recent middle-grade fantasy and one that I hope finds many readers. I like to call it my “princess-in-a-tower” story, but it’s much more than that. I was interested in writing a fairy tale that featured a strong heroine who becomes more than she ever imagined she could be, but I also incorporated themes of family, love, and the importance of history and memory.
I’d recommend Kingdom of Dust to readers who love fairy tales, fables, legends, and tales that make you feel like you are reading a bedtime story from long ago. I am working on an educator’s guide that will have discussion questions, pre and post-reading activities, and other resources. It will be available on my website this fall. There are some wonderful resources available now on TeachingBooks.net, which include an author interview, story map lessons, and a cultural representation reflection.
An educator’s guide is available for my novel A Comb of Wishes, which is also a middle-grade fantasy.
Leonora: You’ve written about intersectionality, stating that as a writer, “I stand in the intersection using my words to call for justice and change through literacy.” Do you find that as you develop and write with intersectionality in mind, your readers see themselves and relate more to your characters?
Lisa: Representation is important to me and I do think about it as I write and develop my ideas. As a child, I read constantly, but the books I had access to did not usually include characters that looked like me or lived like me. As Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop might note, I didn’t have many “mirror” books. As an author, I work to create stories that were missing from my childhood bookshelves. Books filled with adventure and magic that feature Black girl protagonists who can save the day. Even though there are aspects of my stories that may be specific to my identity, it’s been said that in the specific, we often find the universal, and I hope that is true for my readers.
As a teacher, I work to put all types of books in front of my students. I want to connect them with their own mirror books so they can have the validation that comes from seeing aspects of their identities in the characters, stories, and settings of the books they read. I also want them to have access to many books that can serve as “windows” and “sliding glass doors.” Books to broaden their perspectives, develop their empathy, and help them connect with their peers and others who have different life experiences.
Leonora: How has your work with the Association for Autism and Neurodiversity, as well as being a middle school English teacher, broadened the way you think about how children learn and how educators can best meet the needs of students?
Lisa: The experience of being a parent to three autistic young adults has taught me quite a bit about how children learn and develop. Each of my three children are very different in how they learn, how they express what they know, and each is wonderful. Organizations like AANE have been helpful in deepening my understanding of neurodiversity and what types of strategies and supports work for my children.
Teachers also work to identify the strategies and supports that work best for each of our students. All students can learn well, but that doesn’t mean all students can learn well the same way. As teachers, we work hard to help our students build confidence and feelings of success. Having open lines of communication is important. When teachers and parents can be partners in supporting the needs of children, it benefits everyone.
Follow Lisa Stringfellow @engagereaders on Instagram and visit her website to find an event near you!
