Chapter 6

Anne Lamott

"Shitty First Drafts"

Biographical

A comprehensive list of Anne Lamott's various works, as well as links to related resources, can be found at Notes in the Margin.

Cultural

Here is a short account of writing conference and retreat that mentions Anne Lamott's book on writing, as well as other, similar books.

Bibliographical

Here is a list of articles by Anne Lamott for the online magazine Salon.

Toby Kulwiler

"A Lesson in Revision"

Biographical

Here is Toby Fulwiler's official homepage from the University of Vermont.

Annie Dillard

"Transfiguration" and"How I Wrote the Moth Essay - and Why"

Biographical

This is a good start page from the New York Times. On it you'll find a photo and lots of links to articles about and by Dillard, discussing her life and her work. (Free registration required.)

Want some more information about Dillard's working life? Click here for her homepage at Wesleyan University. It has a photo, some information about her work, and a brief biography.

These pages about mysticism in Pilgrim at TinkerCreek contain a very good biography, and a discussion of the book's imagery, as well as a Dillard bibliography.

Bibliographical

This page has an excerpt from Dillard's personal narrative, For the Time Being.

This interview from BookPage.com has the author discussing her first novel, The Living.

Cultural

Dillard has written a book about writing called The Writing Life. The author of this review generally likes Dillard's work, but not this book. Read the review and decide whether you'd like to pursue The Writing Life further. (Free registration required.)

This page contains the citation for Dillard's Pulitzer Prize, which she won in 1975 for Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.

Has reading Dillard sparked your interest in nature writing? Want to do some research on the field? This page of nature links is a great place to start.

Interested in pursuing the mystical and spiritual aspects of Dillard's work? This essay from CrossCurrents.org examines her writing in the light of"ecotheology" and is well worth a careful look.

Peter Elbow and Pat Belanoff

"Summary of Ways of Responding"

Biographical

Interested in knowing more about this author? Here is Elbow's own homepage at the University of Massachusetts.

Here is a page about Elbow with some slightly different information than above, plus a photo. What is the nature of the new information found here? Why do you think it differs from that above?

One way to get biographical information about an author is to check his or her listings at the Library of Congress. Why not take a look at Elbow's title list there and see what you learn?

Cultural

This page contains some information about a video and DVD called Peter Elbow on Writing. Can you tell if your library has a copy from the computer you're working on now? If it isn't available there, what would be the best way for you to get a copy?

Interested in finding out more about writing programs on the web? Well, this hyperlinked compendium provides a lot of information about them, including links to Elbow's program at the University of Massachusetts.

This is the homepage of one of the very best writing labs online, OWL, from the English Department at Purdue University. Once you visit, you'll probably want to put this page in your bookmarks or favorites list.

Still hungry for more writers' resources online? This web directory from Google.com has thousands of pages grouped into categories, as well as some of the most-visited individual sites.

Bibliographical

This page contains some writing tips by Elbow. Click over and see what he has to say about things like freewriting, voice, and audience.

Here's an interview with Elbow in which he talks about teaching writing in two year colleges and other writing-related things.

This is an annotated bibliography of works by Elbow. Would you feel comfortable citing any of this material in a research paper about Elbow's work? Why or why not? How do you judge the value of information you find online?