Teaching

Spring/Summer 2020

Telling Our Stories: A Memoir Writing Workshop
May 18-21, 2020
Santa Fe Writers Lab
Santa Fe, NM
Click here for more info!

Old Friend From Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir
With Natalie Goldberg
Madeline Island School of the Arts, August 10-14, 2020
La Pointe, WI
Click here for more info! 

Fall 2018

“How to Write a College Essay that Readers Remember”
Focused Talk & Discussion with Robert Wilder
Sunday, August 26, 2018
1:00-2:30 pm
Desert Academy
Sunrise Building
7300 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87505

Summer 2018

–Essay Specialist, College Horizons (Native American College Access Program), June 6-16, Hawai’i Preparatory Academy, Kamuela, HI

–Faculty, Chuckanut Writers Conference, June 21-23,  Whatcom Community College, Bellingham, WA

–With Natalie Goldberg, “Sit, Walk, Write” (Year-Long Intensive Program), July 25-29, Upaya Zen Center, Santa Fe, NM

–Faculty. “What’s your Story?” EE Ford Summer Teachers’ Colloquium, July 31-August 3, Santa Fe Prep, Santa Fe, NM

—College Essay Consult and Coaching by appointment. Please see contact page.

 

FALL 2016

“How to Write a College Essay that Readers Remember”
Focused Talk & Discussion with Robert Wilder
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
7:00-8:30 pm
The Commons, 2300 West Alameda

Cost: $20.00 cash or check made out to Robert Wilder.

Bring a notebook or laptop and some initial ideas about college essays.

ROBERT WILDER is AVAILABLE for ONE-on-ONE COLLEGE ESSAY INSTRUCTION THIS FALL 2016.

Please contact robert@robertwilder.com for further information and scheduling.

FALL 2015
The Scribe Circle series continues with its third session.
Robert Wilder, November 15th, Sunday 2-4 pm

Robert Wilder is the author of two books of essays: Tales From The Teachers’ Lounge and Daddy Needs a Drink. He has published essays in Newsweek, Details, Salon, Parenting, and has been a commentator for NPR’s Morning Edition. Wilder’s “Daddy Needs A Drink” column was printed monthly in the Santa Fe Reporter for close to a decade.

This class entitled, Mining Memory: A Workshop in Memoir, will combine discussion of published memoir pieces, craft essays on the art of memoir, and in-class writing prompts leading to new material. Come prepared to write in a safe, supportive environment, to be inspired and inspire others, to share your writing, and go home with a better understanding of memoir as a whole.

The Scribe Circle is a once-a-month intensive, intimate class on a single aspect of craft, limited to ten participants per session. Starting in September 2015 and finishing in July 2016, this series consists of a two hour session taught by a different author each month focusing on a single aspect of their craft. Genres include nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Classes will be held at 1807 Second Street. Cost is $50 per session (cash or check only). For more detailed information or to register, email nextpageconsultancy@gmail.com.

“How to Write a College Essay that Readers Remember”
Focused Talk & Discussion with Robert Wilder
Sunday, August 30
7:00-8:30 pm
The Commons (please email robert@robertwilder.com for street address and details)
Bring a notebook or laptop and some initial ideas about college essays.

ROBERT WILDER is ALSO AVAILABLE for ONE-on-ONE COLLEGE ESSAY INSTRUCTION THIS FALL 2015.

Author and teacher Robert Wilder is available for one-on-one college essay and creative writing instruction this summer. Create that vibrant personal essay before school starts or learn advanced form and technique in fiction or creative nonfiction.

Please contact robert@robertwilder.com for further information and scheduling.

---

BIOGRAPHY

Robert Wilder has taught students ranging in ages from six to sixty for almost twenty years. He has been teaching English and Creative Writing at Santa Fe Preparatory School since 1996 and a writer-in-the-schools since 1994. He has been a novel mentor with the London Arts Council, a guest lecturer in fiction and nonfiction, a writer-in-residence at Antioch College, and an instructor at the New York City Open Center, the Hollyhock Conference Center in Canada, the Institute of American Indian Arts, and elsewhere. He was awarded the 2009 Innovations in Reading Prize by the National Book Foundation as well as numerous Inspirational Teacher citations from Century Bank and Outstanding Educator from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. His writing assignments and teaching methods have been featured in Classroom Notes Plus, published by the National Council of Teachers of English.

Wilder is a regular faculty member at The Taos Summer Writers’ Conference and longtime college essay specialist for College Horizons, a college access program for Native American students.

He has been a keynote, lunchtime, and commencement speaker all over the country for various schools, corporations, and workshops.

Comments from former students:

“I like it when you send us letters about letters.”—S, age 6

“I like when you put letter stickers on your face.”—I, age 6

“I like your hair.”—A, age 5

“I like writing and I like that you help us write.”—C, age 7

“I like writing and when we’ve finished something, we have big parties.”—A, age 8

“From Rob I learned that my voice, my perspective, and my (mundane teenage) life were worth writing about. Suddenly writing wasn’t only about producing dry, regurgitated papers for class and reading no longer became a drag. Rob’s teaching opened up a whole new world for me to escape into. By capturing my experiences and conjuring up new, impossible ones, I could envision a broader life beyond Santa Fe and a better, funnier, far more talented version of myself. Rob was the first “real” writer I ever knew and remains a model of a true teacher-scholar I strive to be.”

“I don’t think it’s overly generous to say that Rob Wilder is ‘the’ reason I write professionally. In a sea of teachers who couldn’t care less, Robert stood out as a sane-ish, legitimately hilarious, (perhaps accidentally) hip mentor. He encouraged his students to write from themselves and their unique experiences and taught us to value our voice and the voice of our peers…however much our tiny judgmental minds wanted to resist. Had it not been for his Creative Writing class, I would have probably been a (cringe) musical theater major in college…instead, I became a creative writing concentration and now I spend six hours a day writing and thinking of every excuse to write more. For some unspeakable reason, Robert’s influence on my poetry made me accidentally win a youth slam poetry contest. I keep my journals from his creative writing class with me for every cross-country move. Rob introduced us to modern, honest writers and brought other amazing people to speak to us. I still look back fondly on those days which were otherwise soul-crushing, because while youth is full of lots of alleged suffering, now I have the power to craft those emotions into humorous, sometimes heart-wrenching stories. Which is kinda priceless.”

“Rob made me want to write because he was maybe the fourth person to encourage me and take a real interest in my writing. He basically had to as my creative writing instructor, but still.  Rob validated my seventeen-year-old scribblings while keeping me from taking myself too seriously. Once, when discussing a story I’d written, Rob suggested a rewrite wherein one character asks another to the prom. I wrinkled my nose and said ‘Ew– that’s so high school.’ Rob came back with ‘I got news for you kid, you ARE in high school.’ Rob’s interest in my work as a young writer was instrumental in my pursuit of writing in college and beyond. Rob was the kind of teacher I needed: (the type of teacher most high schoolers need) someone to tell me I was a good writer, show me ways to get better, and to say ‘keep writing.’”

“Rob has been guiding me though the writing process for about a year and a half as I undertake producing my first book.  In many ways he holds me accountable to forge onward and submit my drafts regularly, to delve into aspects of my stories that are particularly challenging for me, and to maintain an honest relationship with my reader.  I am grateful for his compassionate understanding and gentle criticisms as otherwise, I surely would have stopped writing.”

“As both a student and co-teacher in Rob’s classroom, I was awed and inspired by his ability to draw out insights and surprisingly sophisticated opinions regarding literature.  He demands a level of intellectuality that his students are eager to live up to and chooses literature and teaches it in a way that expands the minds of his students.  Rob shaped my education and life and as teacher and mentor.”

“Rob simply taught me how to write an analytical essay. He showed me that a thesis was more than just a proof but that for great analysis it is necessary that I delve further in order to discover the author’s intention and ultimately what it is that they wanted to convey.”

“It is said that a teacher has the power to change a life. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Rob was a life-changing teacher to me. His passion for the written word, understanding of its mechanisms and devices, and more than anything his ability and willingness and great, great patience in explaining this sacred art form moved me and motivated me in ways that have fundamentally shaped my thinking and the arc of my career. I feel so fortunate and grateful to have had rob as a teacher, a friend and a powerful influence on the course of my life.”

“Every student deserves to have at least one wonderful teacher who they will remember for their whole life as being the best teacher they ever had. For me that teacher was Rob. He was a true mentor, friend and inspiration for my fellow classmates and myself both academically and personally. More than any professor in college, Rob was the definition of excellence in teaching. Now I myself am about to become a mother, and if my child can form a relationship with a teacher who cares half as much about him and his education as Rob cares for his students, I will be very happy.”