I am always happy to answer any questions. It should be an incredible issue!
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Peter Elbow’s work has left an indelible mark on how we write, teach, and think about writing. From Writing Without Teachers to his explorations of voice, process, and collaboration, Elbow championed the generative messiness of language and the authority of writers themselves. His ideas reshaped composition studies and, more importantly, emboldened generations of writers and teachers to trust words, trust themselves, and trust the process. Elbow passed away in February of 2025, and this special issue is published in memoriam, honoring his life and contributions to the field.
This special issue of Writing on the Edge invites work that reflects on, extends, complicates, or reinvents Elbow’s legacy. We want to hear how his influence lives on—in classrooms, in scholarship, in personal practice, and in the unexpected corners of writing life.
Possible submissions might include:
- Essays on the place of expressivism in today’s writing landscape
- Classroom narratives shaped by Elbow’s pedagogy
- “The Believing Game” or Methodological Believing
- Grading Contracts and the “Guaranteed B”
- Criterion-based and reader-based feedback
- The role of speech and/or reading in writing
- Personal or scholarly reflections on finding (or questioning) one’s voice
- Case studies of Elbow-inspired practices across diverse contexts
- Creative, experimental, or hybrid work in the spirit of freewriting and play
- Conversations, interviews, or provocations that re-engage Elbow’s ideas
In keeping with Elbow’s own ethos, Writing on the Edge welcomes a wide range of genres. Traditional academic articles are welcome, but so are personal essays, classroom stories, dialogues, creative nonfiction, humor, multimodal pieces, and other forms that experiment with what writing can do.
Submission Information
- Proposal length: 200–400 words
- Proposal deadline: March 27, 2026 (200-400 words)
- Notification of invitation to submit full manuscripts: May 1, 2026
- Full manuscripts due: July 27, 2026
- Anticipated publication: Fall 2026 (November) or Spring 2027 (April)
Please send proposals and questions to woejournal.
For submission guidelines, visit the WOE submission requirements page.
Dr. George N. Asimos
Director of Writing Across the Curriculum and First-Year Writing (He/Him/His)
One Neumann Drive|Aston, PA 19014
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