I have long admired local writer, Amy Bennett Williams, for her ability to see beauty in all things. For years I have used her “Watermelon” piece as an exemplar of descriptive writing and exploding the moment. In that essay, she writes about the simple pleasure of enjoying sticky sweet watermelon during a power outage with her family on the front porch. This year, my companion teacher, Katy De Sousa, and I decided we would expand our time with the writing of ABW by studying three of her essays, and–why not–asking her to come speak to the students. We were thrilled when she agreed to lead a writing workshop for our students. Upon announcing to the students that she would be visiting us, their wide-eyes and disbelief told us this was really something special. “A real writer is coming to talk to us?” On the day of her visit, she read two pieces of her writing, fielded questions from the kids, and lead them in a mini descriptive writing workshop. The students asked insightful questions and produced meaningful pieces of writing. Mrs. De Sousa and I delighted in hearing ABW tell the students that in order to be a great writer, you must also be a great reader. There is nothing more powerful than having this message repeated by someone who knows its truth.
