I met Alexandra Shelley in the summer of 2007 as a student in her Advanced Short Story Workshop.  A colleague of mine at Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers had highly recommended her to me.  I came to her class looking for the deadlines that would get me to my desk to write.  I found an intellectual and literary opportunity that reintroduced me to my writing—not only the habit of committing words to the page, but also the agility of imagination, insight, and language that makes writing empowering to both reader and writer.

Although the primary focus of the workshop was simply to write stories, I was repeatedly impressed with the breadth of resources she brought to supplement that work.  From Henry James to Nathan Englander, she presented published works of fiction as a casual reader, encouraging us to share what we loved; as a scholar, unfolding the layers of meaning with us; and as a writer, asking us what we could take away for our own work.  She took the word "workshop" to heart: she taught in a way that opened whatever was before us, be it another student's piece or a short story from The New Yorker, as a resource for new ideas and inspiration.  In this way, we began to teach each other and ourselves. 

Her enthusiasm for her teaching and her subject came through in her commitment to treating her students as peers, evaluating each of us with the same sharp insight, critical eye, and imagination that she turned to the exemplary published works we unpacked in class.  Being valued on the level of professional writers alone is inspiring.  She also looked at our stories with a grounded understanding of "the business." While she had to tell us how hard it is to get published, she did it in such a way as to still inspire hope and commitment in her students. 

In in-class writing, writing short stories, and reading with Alexandra, I have improved as a writer and as a thinker.  She continues to offer help even though I have left her classroom: examples, criticisms, insights, and exercises.  I know she does the same for other former students—as the years go by, her "class" just keeps expanding, people keep coming back to her.

-Abigail Holstein
Editor