The Writer's Presence by Donald Mcquade

The Writer's Presence by Donald Mcquade

Memorable. Provocative. Timely. Luminous. The Writer's Presence brings together the best of the essay genre in a teachable, flexible compendium, because great reading inspires great academic writing.

Edited by Best American Essays series editor Robert Atwan and composition teacher and scholar Donald McQuade, The Writer's Presence offers a rich pool of readings you'll enjoy dipping into. The essays here address topics students care about, from race in America to transgender identity, with careful attention to voice, tone, and figurative language. Classic authors like Langston Hughes and George Orwell join rising stars like Roxane Gay and Eula Biss for a grand tour of masterful writing.

Divided into three parts--personal writing, expository writing, and argumentative writing--The Writer's Presence also provides practical strategies for student writers, giving them tools to sharpen their own voices and imagination. An e-book option offers even greater flexibility and convenience.

Robert Atwan is director of The Blue Hills Writing Institute at Curry College and the series editor of the annual Best American Essays, which he founded in 1985. His essays, reviews, and critical articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Iowa Review, Denver Quarterly, Kenyon Review, River Teeth, and many other publications. For Bedford/St. Martin s, he has also edited Ten on Ten: Major Essayists on Recurring Themes (1992); Our Times (1998); and Convergences (2009). He has coedited (with Jon Roberts) Left, Right, and Center: Voices from Across the Political Spectrum (1996), and is coeditor with Donald McQuade of The Writer s Presence (2009).