creative writing oak academy

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Gifted and Talented Students

Inspiring, challenging, educating gifted minds.

Oak Crest Academy is a fully accredited school for gifted and talented students, grades PreK-12, specifically designed to address the needs and learning styles of gifted learners; bringing together of highly trained faculty, carefully designed and award-winning gifted curricula, and like-minded peers; a community of enthusiastic learners who share a passion for intellectual inquiry, creativity, and discovery.

Everything we do at Oak Crest Academy is guided by one simple mission: to allow gifted children to realize their full potential. These children are extraordinary. Their school should be, too. Because maximizing a child’s potential is one of the greatest gifts you can give.

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Curriculum Designed to Meet Gifted and Talented Students’ Needs

Our gifted and talented students are provided an exceptional hands-on academic experience, while also integrating creative courses such as; music, foreign language, yoga, chess, rocket engineering, fine arts, woodworking, meditation, Odyssey of the Mind, and more.

Oak Crest Academy at a Glance

Gifted curriculum.

Oak Crest Academy uses William & Mary research-based curricula for gifted students. This curriculum was carefully developed through years of research and field testing. The curriculum is based on an integrated curriculum model that matches key characteristics of gifted students to the curriculum design and ensures a cohesive approach to learning across all disciplines and units.

Low Student-to-Teacher Ratio

Oak Crest Academy has a low student-to-teacher ratio of 10:1 Kindergarten, 12:1 Lower Elementary, 15:1 Upper Elementary and 20:1 for Middle School.

Highly Trained Staff

Oak Crest Academy cultivates a faculty of experienced educators who can appropriately challenge and meet the needs of our student body. By design, our faculty are educated, innovative, creative thinkers with diverse perspectives and backgrounds committed to working as a cohesive team to build a positive school community. Examples of some of our staff include NASA educated science teachers, Emmy winning creative writing teacher, former UCLA professors and gifted expert teachers.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in Action

We believe that surrounding a gifted child with a community of his/her peers strengthens and supports the child’s development. The gifted child can often feel isolated in the traditional classroom, where he/she may be resented or inhibited from developing his or her learning potential. One of the main benefits of programs that group gifted children together is the opportunity for varied and satisfying friendships to emerge, enhancing the children’s social spheres. Additionally, building awareness and understanding of emotional needs of the gifted child is also important and fostered at Oak Crest Academy.

Differentiated Instruction With Creative Integration

Our students are provided an exceptional hands-on academic experience, while also integrating creative courses such as; music, foreign language, yoga, academic chess, rocket engineering, fine arts, woodworking and more. These courses are woven through each day to foster a whole child approach to learning.

News + Announcements

JUNE & JULY 2023

School closed for summer break.

AUGUST 2023

1 – Office reopens for normal hours M-F 10am-3pm

22 – First Day of School

SCHOOL LUNCHES

Oak Crest Academy offers healthy meal options for your child’s lunch. Call us to find out what options are offered at your campus.

DOWNLOAD THE 2023-24 SCHOOL CALENDAR

Show School Spirit

We offer a variety of custom designed apparel, accessories, and merchandise to help build and boost school spirit at each campus! Be sure to browse through all the new Oak Crest Academy gear by visiting our online store.

Your Child’s Success Is Our Priority

Begin the journey to meet their gifted educational needs.

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NCAA-Approved Courses

In order for courses to be NCAA Division I and II approved and in alignment with the new criteria, they must meet certain requirements in rigor, content, and length. The NCAA expects that approved courses will adhere to college preparatory standards. There are high expectations for student/teacher interaction and evaluation (including phone conversations and email discussions) so that students and teachers are engaged on an individual level. Additionally, there must be a clearly-defined time period for each course to be completed, and the course length must be similar to that of courses in traditional school programs.

Oak Crest Academy offers NCAA-approved courses. Our school is proud of our commitment to academic excellence, as well as our dedication to providing full eligibility for our student athletes.

Working at Oak Crest Academy

Thinking about joining our team ?!  If you are interested in applying for teaching positions at Oak Crest Academy or seeking options for campus-specific job opportunities within our school district, please click on the button featured below to view our campuses’ current open positions and categories.

Los Angeles

NEW: Pomona

NEW: Harvard

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Morgen Bailey

Creative Writing Academy

The place to take your writing, to the next level, passionate about writing,  with its mix of tutorials, author spotlights, and regular sessions on the craft of writing and editing, the academy is for you., welcome to the academy.

A quick introduction from your tutor, Morgen Bailey, which outlines what you can expect from this academy.

Stuck for ideas?

Have ideas but don't know how, to put them down, written something but unsure, what to do next.

These user-friendly tutorials cover a variety of topics including dialogue, pacing, tenses, point of view, editing and 'more is more'.

Stuck for ideas? You'll find workshops there too!

Author Spotlights

Meet new-to-you authors chatting with Morgen about themselves, their writing and their books.

Q&A Sessions

Chat with Morgen in the twice-weekly sessions where you can ask her anything about writing (Tuesdays) and editing (Thursdays).

Hi, I’m 'Morgen with an E'

As well as being the author (of 39 titles), a speaker, blogger, and writing competition judge, I am a qualified creative writing tutor and mentor, and have been for nearly twenty years.

I would love to help you on your writing journey, whether you're at the start or have been writing for years.

I'm regularly adding new content but always open to new ideas - you can email me at [email protected] .

Courses Available

Below are the courses, bundles and coaching sessions currently available, with more coming soon.

The Basics of Creative Writing

Unsure where to start with writing convincing and natural dialogue confused about point of view and tenses should you plan your story or run with the idea you have this is the ideal basics area of the academy to get you started..

In this classroom, you can sit and enjoy Morgen's chats with a variety of authors at different stages of their career. In the 'Introduction' videos, you'll meet the author and learn about them and their writing. In subsequent 'Books' videos, they will talk about one of that author's books in more depth.

The Craft of Creative Writing

Develop your writing skills with these video tutorials. includes: - editing micro fiction sessions - more is more #2 onwards (#1 is available in the free area of the academy) - pacing sessions - prompts sessions.

Editing Your Writing

Although aimed primarily at fiction writers, morgen provides the tools for honing your writing until it shines. in the free 'editing micro fiction' and 'editing flash fiction' tutorials, she provided a piece she wrote for these sessions - which you can whittle down yourself if you pause the videos - and guides you in what to keep and what can be removed without losing the essence of the piece. as well as the live/recordings of the weekly 'editing 101' sessions (where you can ask her questions about editing), there will be other tutorials where morgen shares her knowledge gained from almost twenty years of editing 300+ manuscripts for publishers and directly for (with) authors..

The Craft & Editing Bundle

The craft & editing bundle contains 'the craft of creative writing' and the 'editing your writing' areas of the academy..

Creative Writing Zoom Coaching - first session

Weekly creative writing zoom coaching with morgen bailey, monthly creative writing zoom coaching with morgen bailey, let’s keep in touch.

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OAT English

David didau.

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English at Oak Academy English is a key subject in the curriculum for all students

English Teaching Staff

• Mrs A Bradley: Curriculum Leader
• Mrs C Stamp: Second in Department
• Ms L Weir: KS3 co-ordinator
• Mrs S Britland
• Mrs J Boyd Gault
• Mrs T Freke
• Miss H Jeffrey
• Mr I Nicholls

In English we learn about communication. We develop our Writing skills to address a range of different audiences in a range of different styles. Through support and guidance, we become analytical readers who are able to extract the purpose of a writer’s work. We learn to deliver speeches, work in teams and listen, sensitively, to others

The English department at Oak academy is a large and thriving department. Students are supported to become resilient in their studies and are offered a varied curriculum. We are not afraid to challenge our students in Key Stage Three to ensure that they are well prepared when they enter Key Stage Four and beyond.

Curriculum Vision English

Key Stage 3

Our students in Key Stage Three will study a range of classic pieces of Literature spanning from Shakespeare and Dickens to Orwell and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Students will be immersed in both classic and contemporary Poetry and taught how to analyse authorial intent whilst gaining an appreciation for quality writing. Students will complete Writing Mastery units throughout Key Stage Three to gain a working knowledge on how grammar is used and will be given the opportunity to read for pleasure using a mixture of Reading Plus and Free Reading.

Year 7 English 

Autumn Term: Oliver Twist

Spring Term:  A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Summer 1: Poetry Anthology

Summer 2: Voices and Choices

Grammar Content : writing in full sentences, identifying action and verb, subject-verb agreement for ‘to be’, regular and irregular past simple verbs, using capital letter accurately, avoiding fragments, using pronouns, how to paragraph, how to use speech properly, avoiding the use of fused sentences.

Writing Content : telling what happened, opening a story, writing about up to four images, writing with no images, structuring a story.

Year 8 English

Autumn Term: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Spring Term:  The Tempest

Summer 1: Animal Farm

Summer 2: Descriptive Writing and Poetry

Grammar Content: clauses, subordinate clauses, sentence demarcation, speech, apostrophes, possessive pronouns.

Writing Content: problems solved stories, love stories, action stories, fantast quests, horror stories, poetic justice, Chekov’s gun, avoiding deus ex-machina.

Year 9 English

Autumn Term: Jane Eyre

Spring Term:  Small Island

Summer 1: Poetry

Summer 2: Reading for Study

Grammar Content : subordinate clauses, quantifiers, defining and non-defining relative clauses, appositives, past perfect tenses, future perfect tenses, using conditionals.

Writing Content : argumentative writing, introducing examples, writing a thesis, writing an introduction, ‘because, but so counter -argument’, writing a complete non-fiction argument.

  KS4 English

Pupils will sit AQA GCSE English Language and AQA  English Literature at the end of year 11.

The GCSE courses provide pupils with access to a broad range of texts from the literary canon, building on their knowledge from Key Stage 3.

English Language

• Examination Paper 1: Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing (50%)
• Examination Paper 2: Writers’ Viewpoints and Perspectives (50%)

English Literature

• A Christmas Carol
• Poetry of Power and Conflict
• An Inspector Calls

If you would like any further information on our English curriculum, please contact Mrs A Bradley (Curriculum Area Lead for English) [email protected]

GCSE Specifications

Links to the GCSE specifications for English can be found below:

AQA English Language 8700

AQA English Literature 8702

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Our practical and carefully supported writing courses are aimed at developing work-in-progress, honing your writing skills and boosting your confidence.

Alongside regular critique and meaningful feedback from your tutor, these longer-form courses, conveniently delivered online, offer a chance to share work with your writing peers and build your identity as a writer. 

They also provide a unique opportunity for you to receive personalised, one-to-one feedback on your writing each fortnight. 

Browse our upcoming courses below, or read on to learn more about why an NCW course may be perfect for you.

Browse our upcoming online tutored courses

Beginner courses — 12 weeks

How to Write Fiction (Beginner)

Learn the tools and techniques for writing compelling fiction with an online creative writing course designed for new writers and anyone wanting to write more regularly.

Monday 23 September

Creative Non-Fiction: An Introduction (Beginner)

Explore biography, reportage, nature writing and more on this 12-week online creative non-fiction course, designed in partnership with UEA.

Kickstart Your Poetry (Beginner)

Join us on a journey into the transformative world of writing poetry on this 12-week online course, designed in partnership with UEA.

Screenwriting: An Introduction (Beginner)

This course is an all-encompassing introduction to screenwriting and is designed for writers who are just starting to explore television drama and film scripts.

How to Write Historical Fiction (Beginner)

This online creative writing course will help you with the essentials of how to write historical fiction – narrative structure, characterisation, setting, timing, point of view and voice.

How to Write Romantic Fiction (Beginner)

This course is an all-encompassing introduction to romantic fiction and is designed for writers who are just starting to explore writing romance novels.

An Introduction to Crime Writing (Beginner)

Join Femi Kayode for an online beginners’ crime writing course that will teach you how to write a crime novel.

Intermediate courses — 18 weeks

Crime Fiction: The Next Chapter (Intermediate)

Join expert tutor Julia Crouch for an 18-week in-depth online creative writing course which will will lead you through the elements of writing a crime fiction novel.

Memoir: The Next Chapter (Intermediate)

Join Jenn Ashworth for an 18-week in-depth online memoir writing course, designed in partnership with UEA.

Develop Your Fiction (Intermediate)

This intermediate course builds on the expertise acquired at an introductory level, providing more depth and a wider range of reading and approaches to fiction.

Develop Your Creative Non-Fiction: Landscape & Place (Intermediate)

Join Dan Richards for an 18-week in-depth online creative non-fiction course, designed in partnership with UEA.

Why study with National Centre for Writing?

National Centre for Writing has been supporting writers to develop their craft for over 25 years. Our online tutored courses are developed in partnership with University of East Anglia, home to the prestigious School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing , which boasts award-winning alumni including Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan and Anne Enright. Our course tutors are all published writers, many of whom have studied or taught at UEA themselves.

While there are many online courses available to you across the world, ours are unique in offering:

• One-to-one feedback on up to six assignments, directly from your course tutor
• A tailored learning experience with 15 students maximum
• Flexibility to progress through the course anywhere, any time
• Support and structure to develop a writing routine
• Skills and knowledge to improve the craft of writing
• Confidence in your ability as a writer
• Opportunity to join our NCW Alumni , an international network of like-minded writers and translators

How do courses work?

We have partnered with digital learning platform  Teachable  to host our self-paced courses. The platform is accessible across a range of devices, simple to use, and does not require any specialist equipment.

We want to make sure that you get the most out of our tutored online courses and feel confident that you’re choosing the right course. Each course contains a mixture of teaching content, reading to prompt discussion, writing exercises for you to hone your skills, and group and one-to-one feedback.

Click to read more about how they are structured and what equipment you may need.

Success stories

‘I enjoyed the way the course was set up. Two weeks is the right length of time for each module; even working full time, it was manageable and it encouraged me to be focussed and disciplined in writing.’

— Shona Lowe

‘The tutor was friendly, knowledgeable, helpful, and approachable. Her feedback was always pertinent and helped me to grow as a writer. She often made very helpful suggestions for relevant books to read and ways to develop my writing.’

— Jilly Shipway

‘The encouraging constructive feedback, and the next steps in the second Zoom meeting, gave me more confidence than anything else I’ve done in learning creative writing.’

— Barry Norton

‘Making up stories had felt like an indulgence before, the course gave it validity. It looked after me as I went through the scary process of exposing my creativity to others and taking in feedback, so that I gained a more realistic understanding of my skills and the confidence to develop further.’

— Sarah Barton

The way the courses were structured made it possible for me to do them along with my work and other commitments. I found the feedback very encouraging and for the first time I started to think of myself as a writer. Now I am doing a creative writing MA at Manchester Metropolitan University which I wouldn’t have considered if I hadn’t done the courses with National Centre for Writing.

Meet the tutors

Our online tutored writing courses are designed and delivered by award-winning tutors and industry experts. All are published writers, and many have studied or taught at the University of East Anglia.

NCW Academy Bursary Programme

We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to tell stories, whatever their background. Each year, we offer free places on selected courses and workshops to writers who otherwise could not afford to attend. Please find details of any current bursaries on individual workshop and course listings. Find out how to apply below.

Academy alumna Fiona Gell shares her experience writing memoir Spring Tides

Tutor Melissa Fu: ‘What I’ve learned from teaching writing’

Megan Bradbury ‘s action plan for aspiring writers

Five tips for keeping your readers gripped

Want the latest courses and resources straight to your inbox?

Sign up for the NCW Academy newsletter and we’ll send you regular updates on courses, workshops, mentoring, free resources, videos, writing tips and more.

Got a question?

If you still have questions, get in touch with the learning team by email [email protected] or phone (+44) 01603 877177 between our working hours of 9am – 5pm BST, Monday to Friday. We’re here to help!

More from NCW Academy…

Online self-paced courses

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Jr. High Creative Writing Camp

From: $ 110.00 / month for 3 months

Grades:  Rising 7th–9th

Live Class:  Wed 4:00–4:50 p.m. ET

Dates (Sum. 1):    May 13 — Jun 28, 2024

Prepaid:  $299

Instructor: Lili Serbicki

See Reviews of Instructor Lili Serbicki

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• Reviews (3)

Course Description

This seven-week creative writing course is an intense series of readings and exercises that explore several elements and genres, including Plot Structure, Character, Conflict, Realism, Science Fiction, and Poetry. A typical week will involve reading a short story or poetry selection, discussing the use of specific literary elements in the text, and responding with a creative project that helps to practice that specific creative tool or genre. By the end of the class, students will have worked towards building a vibrant and varied writing portfolio.

All of the pieces we will complete will fit into categories in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Each week of the intensive will involve an optional 50-minute live discussion that will be recorded for later use. In addition to the Instructor’s critiques, students will have the opportunity to receive feedback from their peers.

The instructor will provide links to the following required reading for the class.

• Plot Structure: “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan
• Character: “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
• Conflict: “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury
• Science Fiction: “A Pail of Air” by Fritz Leiber
• Poetry:   William Butler Yeats and William Carlos Williams
• Independent Portfolio Building: Revisions of previous work

Example of JHCW Assignment

Example of Student Response to an Assignment

Course Structure

Each week of the intensive will involve an optional live discussion. It will be recorded for students who are not able to attend these live discussions. Flexibility is our goal.

Who should enroll?

Rising 7 th to 9 th grade

Technology Requirements

• High speed, broadband internet
• Sound card and microphone (for live sessions)
• Streaming video capabilities to watch recorded lectures
• Students must have Microsoft Word or equivalent word processing capabilities

Communication

If you have any questions you would like to address before registration, please email me at [email protected] . After registration, I will contact you directly.

Instructor Qualifications

Mrs. Serbicki is an experienced Creative Writing and Advanced Placement English instructor with a background in writing, media, and editing. She has been an online English instructor for Aim Academy since 2011. Over the past years, Mrs. Serbicki’s students have won many Silver Keys and Gold Keys in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards – she has student winners every year!   Mrs. Serbicki is a 2009 graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville with a BA in Communication Arts and a Minor in Philosophy. From 2009-2011 she served as the Web/Sales Coordinator for WTOV9, the NBC affiliate in Steubenville, OH.  Her work included managing web traffic, designing and writing copy for web ads and creating effective commercial scripts. She has many years of experience providing student tutoring in areas of writing and mechanics as well as experience in small print publication and editing.

Instructor will provide online links to each required short story and poem. No additional purchases are necessary.

3 reviews for Jr. High Creative Writing Camp

K. M. – February 8, 2017

As a student in Mrs. Serbicki’s 2011-2012 AP English Literature class, I truly have only good things to say! Mrs. S was prompt, considerate, and organized, and went over and above duty on many occasions to spark our interest, keep us on track, and help us grow as writers. – K.M. (student review of AP English Literature)

Carmen P. – February 8, 2017

“I feel that Mrs. Serbicki’s instruction helped me get past my fear of writing fiction – under her guidance I actually finished stories – and fine-tuned my narration and plot development, steering me away from melodrama into honest, engaging tales.” (Carmen P., year-long Creative Writing)

Ginny S. – February 8, 2017

“I won a scholarship recently with an essay/speech that I submitted for the VFW´s Voice of Democracy contest. I actually used a lot of creative writing elements in mine, and I really feel like I owe it to your course for sharpening those aspects of my writing and really my writing as a whole. So I did just want to let you know and thank you for the great feedback on my work so far…The scholarship was worth $20,000 to Springhill College.” (Ginny S., year-long Creative Writing 2012-2013)

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Instructor Bio

Lili serbicki.

Lili Serbicki is an experienced Advanced Placement English instructor with a professional background in writing, media, editing, and advertising. She is a 2009 graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville with a BA in Communication Arts and a Minor in Philosophy. She has over ten years of experience teaching high-level online courses, including AP Literature, AP Language, Creative Writing, poetry composition, argument and debate, and advanced test preparation classes. She has many years of experience providing student tutoring in areas of writing and mechanics as well as experience in small print publication, editing, and writing workshop leadership; she is a published author of poetry, fiction, nonfiction essay, and creative memoir across multiple literary journals. Over the past decade her students (including all course and tutoring students) have won many Silver Keys and Gold Keys in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards at both the regional and national levels. In 2018 Mrs. Serbicki received recognition from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards as “an educator whose dedication, commitment, and guidance are represented by student work selected for national honors.” Contact: lserbicki[at]aimacademy.online

(more…)

All classes taught by Lili Serbicki

World literature, creative writing, ap english language and composition, ap english literature and composition, middle school essay writing (sp) (summer 2), middle school essay writing (summer 1 or 2), sr high creative writing camp, introduction to ap essay writing, sat english prep intensive.

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Choose a unit ( 5 ).

Our Mission: To Inspire and Empower Young Writers

District Writers’ Academy’s mission is to create a safe, inspiring and fun place for pre-teens and teens to learn how to write—and to learn to love writing. Whether you want to increase your child’s confidence and academic performance as a writer or encourage your child to explore their creativity, our private writing tutoring and small group writing classes for kids will support them and help them find their voice.

Every Child Can Be a Good Writer

At District Writers’ Academy, we know that every child can be a good writer if they are taught the skills in a creative, patient, nonjudgmental environment. Our small-group writing classes and private tutoring sessions are hands-on, visual, interactive, and designed to build confidence and joy in the writing process.  We love seeing miracle transformations in students when they discover the power of their voice!

Teaching that Builds Trust

Kids quickly see that our writing classes and tutoring are different. As writers, we don't just tell them what their writing should look like, or where the commas go--we actually teach them HOW to get the results they want. We teach them the skills and strategies that we, as writers, have learned to make their own writing come to life. We understand the writing process realistically and teach students how to navigate it efficiently and effectively. This is the kind of teaching that inspires trust, that makes them writers for life.

More about our staff.

Private Writing Tutoring

One-on-one sessions to enhance performance

Academic Support Classes

For Academic Enrichment and College Prep.

Creative Writing Classes

Fiction, Poetry, Creative Expression

Summer Writing Camps

Academic, creative, and college-prep options!

Suzanne is an incredibly gifted writing teacher. When I was younger, I struggled a lot with synthesizing my thoughts into a coherent form of writing. Suzanne exhibited tremendous patience. She worked with me for hours and tutored me consistently throughout high school as I transformed as a writer. Suzanne helped me discover my creativity and confidence, and most importantly, she taught me how to love writing. My teachers even noticed a change in my writing and confidence, and I went on to major in a writing-intensive area of studies in my undergrad. Thank you so much, Suzanne

“It was fun! There were many writing exercises that I had never explored before. My instructor was very helpful and encouraging. We all took turns sharing our work, and everyone was kind. It made me feel very secure.”

"Suzanne convinced my kid that her creativity is worth sharing. I feel great knowing those foundational skills and confidence will benefit my daughter well into college and beyond.”  

“Camp was very fun because I felt like, as much as the teacher was teaching us, we were all working together and sharing thoughts and feedback as a group.” 

“Suzanne heavily influenced both of our children to open up and write like nobody had ever done before!  She has a gift!!”

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Department of English

M.f.a. creative writing.

English Department

Physical Address: 200 Brink Hall

Mailing Address: English Department University of Idaho 875 Perimeter Drive MS 1102 Moscow, Idaho 83844-1102

Phone: 208-885-6156

Email: [email protected]

Web: English

Scott Slovic

Distinguished professor emeritus.

[email protected]

English Department University of Idaho 875 Perimeter Drive MS 1102 Moscow, Idaho 83844-1102

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Distinguished Professor Emeritus Scott Slovic taught at University of Idaho from 2012 to 2023. In January 2024, he retired from the U of I English Department to become a senior scientist at the Oregon Research Institute in Eugene, Oregon, where he continues his work in the environmental humanities. While at Idaho, he served as chair of the English Department from 2014 to 2018. He also helped to create the Semester in the Wild Program and taught environmental writing in SITW from 2013 through 2022.

College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences

• Ph.D., English and American Literature, Brown University, 1990
• M.A., English and American Literature, Brown University, 1986
• B.A., English and American Literature, Stanford University, 1983

Distinguished Professor Emeritus Scott Slovic taught at University of Idaho from 2012 to 2023. In January 2024, he retired from the U of I English Department to become a senior scientist at the Oregon Research Institute in Eugene, Oregon, where he continues his work in the environmental humanities. While at Idaho, he served as chair of the English Department from 2014 to 2018. He also helped to create the Semester in the Wild Program and taught environmental writing in SITW from 2013 through 2022.

Prior to coming to Idaho, he taught courses on ecocriticism, American and comparative environmental literature, and the interdisciplinary environmental humanities at the University of Nevada, Reno, for 17 years. At Nevada, he helped to create the prominent graduate program in literature and environment and develop the Center for Environmental Arts and Humanities, the Academy for the Environment, and the undergraduate environmental studies program. He also taught at Texas State University in San Marcos from 1990 to 1995. Scott earned his doctorate and masters in English at Brown University and his bachelors in English at Stanford University.

Scott has published more than 300 articles, interviews, op-eds, and reviews and is the author, editor, or co-editor of 31 books (as of the end of 2023), including the monographs “Seeking Awareness in American Nature Writing” (1992) and “Going Away to Think: Engagement, Retreat, and Ecocritical Responsibility” (2008). “Going Away to Think” has also appeared in Chinese and French translations, and Arabic, Portuguese, and Turkish translations are forthcoming. His many co-edited volumes include “Ecodisaster Imaginaries in India” (2023; with Joyjit Ghosh and Samit Kumar Maiti), “Nature and Literary Studies” (2022; with Peter C. Remien), and “The Bloomsbury Handbook to the Medical-Environmental Humanities” (2022; with Swarnalatha Rangarajan and Vidya Sarveswaran). Much of his current work focuses on “data studies” (how information is collected, communicated, and processed cognitively) in the contexts of humanitarian and environmental crises. He and Paul Slovic published the book Numbers and Nerves: Information, Emotion, and Meaning in a World of Data on this subject in 2015 (a Chinese translation appeared in 2024, and an Arabic translation is forthcoming). He serves as a contributing editor for the Arithmetic of Compassion website:  www.arithmeticofcompassion.org

Scott served as the founding president of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) from 1992 to 1995. He edited the journal “ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment” from 1995 to 2020.  https://www.asle.org/stay-informed/asle-news/a-tribute-to-scott-slovic-isle-editor-1995-2020/ . He edited the Environmental Arts and Humanities book series (University of Nevada Press, 1996-2001) and the Credo Series (Milkweed Editions, 1997-2005); at present, he co-edits two book series for Routledge: Routledge Studies in World Literatures and the Environment (with Swarnalatha Rangarajan) and Routledge Environmental Humanities (with Joni Adamson and Yuki Masami). He also serves on the editorial boards for twenty scholarly journals and two presses. He has repeatedly been a Fulbright Screening Committee member for the Institute of International Education (IIE) and a panelist in American studies and American literature for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). He has been a Fulbright Scholar in Germany (University of Bonn, 1986-87), Japan (University of Tokyo, Sophia University, and Rikkyo University, 1993-94), China (Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, 2006), and Turkey (Cappadocia University, 2021), and he frequently lectures in person and over Zoom at many universities around the world. 

Scott can be reached at [email protected] .

Focus Areas

• Ecocriticism
• American and international environmental literature
• Western American literature
• Literary nonfiction
• Environmental writing
• Native American literature
• Sustainability studies
• Autobiography
• Professional publishing and editing

Selected Publications

Recent books:.

• Co-editor (with Swarnalatha Rangarajan and Vidya Sarveswaran), The Routledge Handbook of Ecocriticism and Environmental Communication . Abingdon-on-Thames, UK: Routledge, 2019.
• Co-editor (with David Taylor and Armando Fernandez), An Island in the Stream: Ecocritical and Literary Responses to Cuban Environmental Culture . Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2019.
• Co-editor (with Peter Quigley), Ecocritical Aesthetics: Language, Beauty, and the Environment . Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2018. 
• Co-editor (with Chia-ju Chang), Ecocriticism in Taiwan: Identity, Environment, and the Arts . Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2016. Ecocritical Theory and Practice Series.
• Co-editor (with Paul Slovic),  Numbers and Nerves: Information, Emotion, and Meaning in a World of Data . Corvallis: Oregon State UP, 2015.
• Co-editor (with James E. Bishop and Kyhl Lyndgaard),  Currents of the Universal Being: Explorations in the Literature of Energy . Lubbock: Texas Tech UP, 2015.
• Co-editor (with Nevin Yildirim Yoyuncu, Klara Kolinska, and Erkin Kiryaman), Confinement, Resistance, Freedom: Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Cultural Studies Symposium . Izmir, Turkey: Aegean UP, 2015
• Co-editor (with Vidya Sarveswaran and Swarnalatha Rangarajan), Ecocriticism of the Global South . Lanham, MD: Lexington Books (Rowman & Littlefield), 2015. Ecocritical Theory and Practice Series.
• Ecoambiguity, Community, and Development: Toward a Politicized Ecocriticism . Lanham, MD: Lexington Books (Rowman & Littlefield), 2014
• Scott Slovic Speaks: Thinking Like Yucca Mountain  [Scott Slovic wa kataru]. Compiled and translated into Japanese by Shoko Itoh and Michiko Nakashima. Hiroshima, Japan: Society of Ecocriticism-Japan, 2014.
• Co-editor (with Lorraine Anderson and John P. O'Grady),  Literature and the Environment: A Reader on Nature and Culture . New York: Pearson Longman, 2013. (First edition 1999.)
• Editor,  Nature and the Environment . Critical Insights Series. Ipswich, MA: EBSCO/Salem Press, 2012.
• Co-editor (with Serpil Oppermann, Ufuk Özdag, and Nevin Özkan),  The Future of Ecocriticism: New Horizons . Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2011.
• Going Away to Think: Engagement, Retreat, and Ecocritical Responsibility . Reno: U of Nevada P, 2008. (Chinese translation by Wei Qingqi published by Peking UP in 2010.)

Recent Articles:

• "Narrative in the Age of Precarity: Modeling Inner and Outer Weather through Story": in What's the Weather Like . Ed. Jean-Pierre naugrette and Catherine Lanone. Geneva and Paris: Honore Champion, forthcoming in 2020.
• "Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul: Memories and the City and the Local-Global Tension in Ecocritical Place Studies": in Turkish Ecocriticism . Ed. Serpil Oppermann and Sinan Akilli, Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2020.
• "Something Wonderful and Surreal: American Ecocritics and Environmental Writers Contemplate Exile in Cuba as Donald Trump Eyes the White House": in An Island in the Stream: Ecocritical and Literary Responses to Cuban Environmental Culture . Ed. David Taylor, Fernando Hernandez, and Scott Slovic. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2019. 143-48.
• "In Memoriam: Richard K. Nelson": Association for the study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) website (6 November 2019). www.asle.org
• "Furrowed Brows, Questioning Earth: Minding the Loess Soil of the Palouse": in Caliban 61 (2019): 53-68. Special issue on literature and the land.
• "The Importance of Validating Faculty Research": in Inside Higher Ed (4 September 2019). (With Janet E. Nelson.) https://www.insidehigher3ed.com/advice/2019/09/04/academic-administrators-must-do-more-highlight-researchers%E2%80%99-scholarly-and-creative
• "University of Idaho event shows how research here and around the U.S. betters the world": The Idaho Statesman (31 May 2019). (With Janet E. Nelson.)
• "'Let me tell your story': A Review of A Private War ": www.arithmeticofcompassion.org (11 April 2019).
• "Environmental Humanities: Slow Violence, Narrative Empathy, Empirical Ecocriticism": on the Arithmetic of Compassion website: www.arithmeticofcompassion.org (February 2019).
• "'Bright words': finding common ground in environmental negotiations": in Transformation (1 February 2019).
• "Capturing and Catalyzing Global Reach: The Role of University Research Administrators": in NCURA Magazine 51.1 (Jan/Feb 2019) (co-authored with Janet E. Nelson): 12-13.
• "36 Views of Moscow Mountain: Teaching Travel Writing and Mindfulness in the Tradition of Hokusai and Thoreau": in Caliban 59 (2018): 41-54. Special issue on Anglophone Travel and Exploration Writing: Meetings between the Human and Non-Human.
• "Contextualizing the Ecological Indian: Annette Kolodny's Ceremonial, Multi-dimensional curating of Joseph Nicolar's The Life and Traditions of the Red Man ": in Early American Literature 53.3 (2018): 909-15
• "Language Matters: Environmental Controversy and the Quest for Common Ground": in The Public Land and Resources Law Review (University of Montana) (2018): 1-21.
• "Toward Sustainable Aesthetics: The Poetry of Food, Sex, Water, Architecture, and Bicycle-Riding": in Ecocritical Aesthetics: Language, Beauty, and the Environment. Ed. Peter Quigley and Scott Slovic. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2018. 201-13.
• " The Caveman and the Bomb: Does Trump Grasp the Horror of His Threat to 'Totally Destroy' North Korea ": in Scientific American. (14 November 2017) (With Andrew Quist and Paul Slovic.)
• “Going Away to the Wilderness for Solitude … and Community: Ecoambiguity and the Semester in the Wild Experience”: in Cultures of Solitude . Ed. Ina Bergmann and Stefan Hippler. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Peter Lang, 2017. 275-86.  
• “Liquid Scale: Trans-Scalar Thinking and the Perception of Water”: in Water in Social Imagination: from Technological Optimism to Contemporary Environmentalism . Ed. Jane Costlow, Yrjö Haila, and Arja Rosenholm. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2017. 11-27.
• “Empiricism, Information Management, and the Environmental Humanities”: in special issue of Journal of Ecocriticism (Spring/Summer 2017): 1-7. Guest edited by Chitra Sankaran.
• “Teaching With Wolves”: forthcoming in Western American Literature 52.3 (Fall 2017): 323-31. Special issue on Nature and Culture in the West. Guest edited by Helena Feder.
• “Ecocriticism and the Psychology of Information Processing: Taking a Seat at the Table”: in The Ecocriticism Review No. 10 (Spring/Summer 2017): 4-14. Also published in Portuguese in Revista Interdisciplinar de Literatura e Ecocritica No. 1 (2017).
• “Literature”: in Routledge Handbook of Religion and Ecology . Ed. Mary Evelyn Tucker, John Grim, and Willis Jenkins. London: Routledge, 2016. 353-61.
• “Re-Scaling Geo-Loyality: Considering Expressions of Trans-Scalar Thinking”: in Sense of Place: Transatlantic Perspectives // Sentido del Arraigo: Perspectivas Transatlánticas . Ed. Carmen Flys Junquera and Axel Goodbody. Alcalá, Spain: U of Alcalá P, 2016. 37-51.
• “Narrative Scholarship as an American Contribution to Global Ecocriticism”: in Handbook of Ecocriticism and Cultural Ecology . Ed. Hubert Zapf. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter, 2016. 315-33.
• “ Climate Change Is Genocide for Island Cultures ”: in The Eugene Register-Guard (31 July 2016). (With Paul Slovic.)
• “ Scott Slovic on Bangladesh and Allen Ginsberg ”: in OSU Press Blog (20 July 2016).
• “What We Take For Granted”: in Fracture: Essays, Poems, and Stories on Fracking in America . Ed. Taylor Brorby. North Liberty, IA: Ice Cube Press, 2016. 207-10.
• “ Countering ‘the anesthesia of destruction’: Information and Pathos in the Work of J.M.G. Le Clézio, Barry Lopez, and Vandana Shiva ”: in Revista de Culturas y Literaturas Comparadas (University of Córdoba, Argentina) 5 (2015).
• “ The Arithmetic of Compassion ”: in The New York Times (4 December 2015 online and 6 December 2015 in print): 10SR. (With Paul Slovic.)
• “ The Dance of Reason and Affect ”: in OSU Press Blog (19 November 2015).
• Afterword: “Natural Prayers”: in new edition of Richard Jefferies’s  The Story of My Heart . Ed. Terry Tempest Williams and Brooke Williams. Torrey, UT: Torrey House Press, 2014. 229-35.
• “Varieties of Environmental Nostalgia”: in  The Memory of Nature in Aboriginal, Canadian and American Contexts . Ed. Françoise Besson. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2014. 11-30.
• “A Booklist of International Environmental Literature”: in  World Literature Today  (May 2014). Also see January 2009 issue. Coordinated this booklist.
• “Technologies of Contact”: in  Environmental Humanities  (University of New South Wales, Australia) (Fall 2013).
• “Ecological Civilization and Global Governance” (18 September 2013) and “Landmarks in Chinese Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature” (26 October 2012): in  Chinese Social Sciences Today  (a publication of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences).
• "Marks of Ambivalence: Thoughts on Perception and Inscription": in  Miranda  (Toulouse, France). Special issue on Marking the Land in North America. (Summer 2012).
• "An Abiding Sense of Relationship": in  ELN: English Language Notes  50.1 (Spring/Summer 2012): 243-48. Special issue on "The Shape of the I," guest-edited by Julie Carr and John-Michael Rivera.
• Invited commentary: in  ALH: American Literary History  24.1 (February 2012): 180-88. Special issue on sustainability.
• "Literary Istanbul and the Notion of Place in Contemporary Ecocriticism": in  Istanbul in Turkish and World Culture . Ankara, Turkey: Atatürk Kültür Merkezi, 2011. 589-603.
• "'What is a horizon without mountains?': Robert Laxalt's  Sweet Promised Land  and the Allure of Mountainous Places": in  Mountains Figured and Disfigured in English and American Literature . Ed. Françoise Besson. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2010. 235-42.

Selected Interviews:

• Amazonia: A Poetic Journey . Dir. Marcos Col ó n. Film forthcoming.
• "Recent Trends and Concerns of Ecological Criticism: Ethical Practice and Multiple Routes - An Interview with Professor Scott Slovic" (interviewed by Han Cunyuan and Ye Hua). Forthcoming in Academic Journal of Jinyang (Shanxi Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, P.R. China) (2020>
• "An Interview on the Emerging Field of Material Ecocriticism and It's Pedagogy" (interviewed by Tang Jiannan). Forthcoming in The Journal of Poyang Hu (2020)
• "Nature Writing and Ecocriticism in an Era of Posthumanism: An Interview with Professor Scott Slovic" (interviewed by Shi Haiyu). Forthcoming in Foreign Literature Studies (2020).
• "Sense of Place in American Literature". On the website of Grupo de Investigaci ó n en Erocritica Instituto Franklin - Uah, Espana (GIECO) (September 2019): http://www3.uah.es/gieco/index.php/sense-of-place/
• "Under the Signs of Ecocriticism: An Interview with Prof. Scott Slovic" (interviewed by Sayyed Ali Mirenayat and Elaheh Soofastaei). AJE: Australasian Journal of Ecocriticism and Cultural Ecology (ASLE-ANZ) Vol. 6 (Summer 2016-17): 72-84
• "Ecocriticism in 25 years: Interviewing Scott Slovic" (Niju-go-nengo no ekokuritishizumu) (interviewed by Keitaro Morita and Yohei Yamamoto). Environmental Humanities II: Nature as the Other (kankyo-jinbungaku II: Tasa to-shiteno shizen). volume II. Fest schrift for ken-ichi Noda. Tolyo: Bensei, 217. 287-332. (In Japanese translation.)
• "5 Reasons We Don't Get Numbers: And It Has Nothing to Do with Math" (Scott Slovic and Paul Slovic interviewed by Marty Patail). Portland Monthly (1 march 2016). www.pdxmonthly.com/2016/3/1/5-reasons-we-don-t-get-numbers
• "Dialogue between Scott Slovic and Chinese Visiting Scholars" (interviewed by Liu Bei, Zhu Lihua, and Li Huihua). Special issue of The Journal of Poyang Hu devoted to "Scott Slovic and Ecocriticism) (2015, No. 5): 38-47. (In Chinese translation.)
• "Interview with Professor Scott Slovic" (interviewed by Yan Jianhua). Foreign Literature (2014): 148-55.
• "The Sea Is Warm: Nature, Environmental Art, and Ecocriticism - An Interview with Professor Scott Slovic" (interviewed by Su Bing). The Journal of Poyang Hu (2013, No. 3): 102-08. (In Chinese translation.)
• "Reflections on Academic publishing: A Conversation between Jiang Hong and Scott Slovic" (interviewed October 2012). Chinese Social Sciences Today 392 (14 December 2012) (a publication of the Social Sciences in China Press, a branch of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences). (In Chinese translation.)
• "From Place to Planet to 'Planetary Place': An Interview with Professor Scott Slovic" (interviewed by Xu Haixiang, Nanjing University, 1 November 2011). The Journal of Jiangsu University (May 2012): 42-46. (In Chinese translation.)
• "The Future of Ecocriticism: Strategic Openness and Sustainability - An Interview with Scott Slovic" (interviewed by Yang Ying-yu). Tamkang Review (Tamsui, Taiwan) 41.2 (June 2011): 63-74.
• "Reflections on Literature and Environment: An Interview with Scott Slovic" (interviewed by Diana Villanueva Romero). Econzon@: European Journal of Literature, Culture, and Environment 1.2 (2010): 67-86.
• "Scott Slovic: reflexiones sobre literatura y medio ambiente" (interviewed by Diana Villanueva Romero). Ecocr í ticas: Literatura y medio ambiente . Ed. Carmen Flys Junguera, Jos é Marrero Henriquez, and Julia Barella Vigal. Madrid, Spain: iberoamericana, 2010. 29-47. (In Spanish translation.)
• "Eco-awareness and Ecocritical Responsibility: An Interview with Professor Scott Slovic" (interviewed by Ma Junhong). Contemporary Foreign Literature (Nanjing University) 31.2 (Summer 20120): 160-70. (In Chinese translation.)
• Practice of the Wild: A conversation with Gary Snyder and Him Harrison (interviewed by Will Hearst). Dir. John Healey. San Simeon Films, May 2020. Transcript appears in The Etiquette of Freedom: Gary Snyder, Jim Harrison, and The Practice of the Wild . Ed. Paul Ebenkamp. Counterpoint, 20120.
• "An Inconvenient Truth: Interviewing Scott Slovic and the World Wildlife Fund's Zhang Yifei" (interviewed by Zhang Lifeng and Eric Tang). Man & Nature 92 (May 2009): 108-09. (Shanghai Literature & Art Publishing Group.) (In Chinese translation.)
• "Der Nature auf der Spur: Eine poeto- ö ko-logische Anleitung" (interviewed by Andreas Trojan). Bayerischer Rundfunk, Munich, Germany (broadcast 12 February 2008).
• "Scott Slovic: The Current State of Ecocriticism." Literature and the Environment (journal of ASLE-Korea) (June 2006): 214-25. (In Korean translation.)
• Contemporary American Nature Writing: An Introduction" and "What is Nature? What Are We? New Perspectives on Literature" (responses to interview questions by Ken-ichi Noda). Folio A (Fall 1993): 8-16 and 17-24. (In Japanese translation.)

Awards and Honors

• University Distinguished Professor Award, University of Idaho, April 2020
• Excellence in Research and Creative Activity, University of Idaho, April 2018 
• Excellence in Interdisciplinary Collaborative Efforts Award (Semester in the Wild), University of Idaho, April 2014
• Thornton Peace Prize, University of Nevada, Reno, May 2012
• Vice Chair, Board of Directors, Orion magazine, 2010-2015
• Chair, Selection Committee, Inaugural Orion Book Award, 2007
• Regents' Award for Graduate Academic Advising, Nevada State System of Higher Education, May 2006
• Nevada Humanities Award (for distinguished scholarship in literature and environment), November 2004
• Curriculum Vitae pdf