Teaching writing for: 30 years
My areas of expertise: Short form memoir, fiction, writing for children, manuscript development
My “hot take” on teaching/mentoring: Writers love language, and that’s our starting point. The goal is for language to nearly disappear, as it does, say, in haiku, to be transformed into a story voice, the conveyer of story or essay, the way brush work and colors in a tube of paint disappear to create a world that comes from one painter alone. The way Monet’s brush strokes in his Water Lilies disappear at, say, three feet away from the painting—but walk up close and you see the energy in each stroke, the color, the relationship of one stroke to another. The image of lilies disappears.
My strengths as a mentor: I am a line-by-line editor. I like teaching this way because I can address crafting, and the way crafting reveals the writer’s intention, perhaps still somewhat hidden underneath their words. When someone brings me a story, or writes a story [in session with me] that may have been knocking on the door to be written, I can often see that there is another layer underneath the words of the draft, something the writer is trying to express. Structure and organization are also my strengths. I am mindful of how to build a longer story or collection out of smaller pieces of writing.
Why I should be your writing mentor: I work with a writer as I work with my own writing—it’s very personal and becomes as important [as my own work]. I have mentored many writers. Some have gone on to publish books and stand-alone pieces. Others are in the process of submitting their work. I can share my own experience of what it took to get my own work accepted.
The best part of this job: I have a passion for working with people who want to share their stories. My favorite moments are when writers reach a point where they’ve written something that shows them who they really are.
My favorite things to read: Memoir, classic novels and short stories, and spiritual writing.
My favorite things to write: Personal essays, mining my memories and experiences to find the doorway to a full story.
The official writer bio: Helena Clare Pittman is a writer, painter, teacher, and author of 18 books. Her children’s classic, the New York Times-listed and Year’s Best Paperback A Grain of Rice, has sold more than 363,000 copies. She has taught creative writing at Hofstra University and the CUNY Queens College graduate program, as well as in schools, libraries, and workshops in New York City, Long Island, and upstate New York. An award-winning illustrator, Helena has also taught art at Parsons School of Design and SUNY and been the recipient of a New York State Council of the Arts “Arts in the Community” grant. She holds a BFA from the Pratt Institute and an MA from Antioch College, lives in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains of New York with two beloved cats, and has two beloved adult children.
Helena has taught me to go to the place where memory connects with imagination. That’s been a vital revelation, helping me continue writing with greater faith. – Nancy Obermueller
I never thought that the experiences of my own childhood could be springboards for my creative expression. It now makes total sense when people say, “Write what you know.” – Stella Pappas
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Books by Helena Clare Pittman
