Jump Start

For years Robert Wolf traveled around the Midwest and the South teaching small town folk farmers and homeless individuals to write about their lives through poems essays and fiction. Through his own small publishing company Free River Press Wolf published these stories of the forgotten parts of America. In 1999 Oxford published an anthology of his students'' works in a volume entitled American Mosaic: Poetry and Prose by Everyday Folk. Now we have Jump Start--a concise guide that offers Wolf''s writing techniques from his Free River Press workshops across the country. Rooted in the oral tradition Wolf''s methods include storytelling visualization spontaneous prose composition and sketching. Useful for both the individual and groups as well as for beginning or practiced writers his concrete techniques are flexible enough to be applied towards any form (poetry composition non-fiction plays etc.). With the inclusion of writing samples from past workshop participants Wolf''s main emphasis is that people from all walks of life even with no previous background in writing may produce meaningful and memorable work.