A few words from Hope's former students...




"Hope's workshops are a tremendous education--her classes provided me with experienced blueprints from which to examine and crack the narrative code. Years later, I can trace the birth of my first book to the techniques, confidence, and literary tools that first took root in Hope's classroom."
                                                           — Caroline Kraus, author of Borderlines (Random House)

"When I chose Hope for my first mentor at Antioch, I had no idea what a transformation I was in for. She didn’t just scribble notes in the margins; she helped me develop my own critical awareness, so that my writing could continue to improve throughout the MFA program and beyond. It was her engagement with structure and form that encouraged me to experiment, and my work has never been the same. She will always stand out in my mind as the most empowering teacher I ever had."
                                              
                                                                                                                  — Karrie Higgins, MFA, Antioch-LA


"I trace my path to becoming a writer back to one simple exercise Hope assigned in her weekend Creative Nonfiction workshop: "My ______ is the kind of _____ who ______." This exercise inspired a short story that formed the basis of my solo show. Hope is a tremendous teacher; she is incisive, encouraging, and always gave me, well, quite frankly--Hope.

                                                      
-- Nancy Balbirer, writer and performer of the one-woman
                                                                          show "I Slept With Jack Kerouac" and author of the
                                                                          memoir
Take Your Shirt Off and Cry (Bloomsbury)

"In all my years of taking writing classes and workshops, I always come back to the same conclusion: I need Hope. There is no instructor out there smarter or more motivating than Hope Edelman. She's the real thing: smart, motivating, fiercely dedicated to her students and her work. Taking a class with Hope Edelman is like receiving a mini-MFA."
                      
                                                              — Monica Holloway, author of Driving With Dead People
                                                                                              and Cowboy and Wills (Simon & Schuster)

 
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Iowa Summer Writing Festival class, 2004