John Hirsch Sets a Course for Tin House
7/1/2010
Now in his 20th year at Middlesex, John is the head of the English department, director of the writing program, coach of girls’ varsity squash, and a dorm assistant on campus. Affectionately called “the Commander” by many of his past and present students John conducts the writing workshop with the skill of a master-teacher. Like any expert, however, John continues to hone his skills in both writing and teaching.
After using his winter sabbatical to work on his book of stories, John is spending part of his summer at the Tin House Writing Conference, a weeklong intensive series of workshops, seminars, panels, and readings led by the editors of Tin House magazine and Tin House Books and several prominent contemporary American writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. There, John will spend his mornings in workshops, afternoons in craft seminars and career panels, and evenings at author readings. It may be difficult for many to imagine John returning to the role of student, but he is looking forward to getting feedback on his book, for he has found that this kind of commentary not only impacts his own work but also the work of his students. As John observes, “I find I teach fiction with more excitement when I write it.”
In addition to writing, John also plans to tackle a hefty amount of reading, including Anna Karenina, in preparation for an Independent Study Project with two students, as well as works by Joy Williams and Anthony Doerr. In between these two chapters of John’s summer plans, he will spend time with his family, take weekend trips, swim, and watch his children enjoy the Middlesex School Summer Arts program. By the end of August, he will be eminently prepared to return to the classroom.