Kostelnick, Kate, et al., Eds. / Speaking Back: Student Voices From Writing and Tutoring Across Cultures

Kate Pamela Kostelnik is Associate Professor of English under the the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs at the University of Virginia

In the aftermath of the 2017 Summer of Hate, University of Virginia scholars resolved to fight bigotry and promote justice and equity in the community. At the direction of Dr. Kate Kostelnik, aspiring writing center tutors enacted these values by volunteering in schools, hospitals, and community centers. Drawing parallels from disciplines such as Speech Therapy, Gender Studies, and scientific writing, these students reflect upon their experiences with community engagement, linguistic justice, and interdisciplinary inquiry. Offering sharp insights into inclusive practices that enrich tutoring, writing centers, and community engagement, they create writing projects that are "brave, honest, and important." These multifaceted essays, Kostelnik asserts, “consider how our past as writers affects our present as tutors [and] speak back to the troubled world. . . . I'm awestruck by what students can do on the page and in communities. It's a kind of poetry I can't teach; I can only learn from it.”

9781643175416

Parlor Press

June 2025

Paperback

Kostelnick, Kate, et al., Eds. / Speaking Back: Student Voices From Writing and Tutoring Across Cultures