Linda Rader Overman CV

 

EDUCATION

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Recognition of Meaningful Difference Linda Rader Overman (English) along with a number of her department colleagues, received recognition from at least one graduate from the Class of 2025 who chose to honor our faculty. As part of CSUN’s Annual Survey of Graduating Seniors, students were invited to recognize up to three faculty or staff members who had the most significant impact on their educational journey. Our English department certainly made a positive impact with the Class of 2025! [Thank you to the student who recognized me!!]

Completed -Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools for Teaching and Learning. Earners of this badge have successfully completed the CSU Systemwide AI Tools for Teaching and Learning course. This course and badge are administered and issued jointly by Academic Technology Services and Innovative Teaching and Learning Programs through the California State University Office of the Chancellor. (August 2024)

Completed - Data Security and FERPA (Non-Level 1), June 2024

Attended & Completed - Podcast Basics Workshop by Tammy Trujillo, February, 2023.

Attended & Completed - Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity (SEED) Workshop by Carrie Saetermoe, Freddie Sanchez, Marcy De Veaux- transformational workshop designed to build equity on our campus, December 2022.

Certificate of Participation - acknowledges that Linda Overman was one of the first CSUN faculty to engage in a Hyflex teaching pilot program during Spring 2022 at CSUN

Certificate of Achievment - Flexible Course Experience Institute Winter 2022- (Re)Design course-level learning outcomes to support equivalent pathways for student achievement, etc.

Certificate of Completion - Participants who earn this badge can add media content to their Canvas Studio account and incorporate that media into courses. 

Certificate of Completion -Quiz Canvas Bootcamp - The Quiz Bootcamps cover the nuances of the Quiz feature in Canvas which will include topics such as creating questions, question types, creating question banks, accommodating students, analytics, proctoring, and surveys.

CSU Q1 Introduction to Teaching Online---Certificate of Completion CSU Academic Technology Services, Quality Assurance Blended & Online Program --Q1 introduces faculty in the CSU System to tools and teaching strategies for designing a fully online course. Faculty become familiar with the 10 sections of the Quality Learning and Teaching (QLT)

PhD in Creative Writing, Lancaster University, England. 2014. [named University of the Year by The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018, UK]
Thesis: Pictures On the Wall of My Life: Photographs to Life Writing to Fiction, An Ekphrastic Journey
Supervisory Team: Carolyn Richardson, and John Darwell, University of Cumbria-Carlisle, Lead Supervisor: Dr. Elizabeth Mood, University of Cumbria-Lancaster.

MFA in Creative Writing. MFA Consortium in Creative Writing, California State University, Chico. Emphasis in Creative Nonfiction. Spring 2003.
Project: "Developing Portraits," (memoir).
Committee: Paula Huston, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Carole Oles, CSUCHICO, Director: Steve Gutierrez, CSU East Bay.

MA in English, Creative Writing. California State University, Northridge. Emphasis in Creative Nonfiction. Spring 2001.
Thesis: "Weaving the Fabric of Myself," (memoir)
Committee: Sandra Stanley, Jack Lopez, Director: Kate Haake.

BA in English, Honors. California State University Northridge. Emphasis in Literature. December 1996.
Thesis: "Mestiza Consciousness of La Frontera/Borderlands in Sandra Cisneros and Helena Maria Viramontes."
Committee: Mark Rocha, Director: Sandra Stanley.

Graduate Students and the Writer's Conference, English 681B, Fiction workshop with Nahid Rachlin, Southampton College, Long Island University, Summer 1998.

PUBLICATIONS

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"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time " -Primary Source & Historical Documents, Gale Literature Resurce Center. July 2024.

"Writing is Breathing. An Interview with Linda Rader Overman." Carbon Radio. ILLUMINATION/Medium. https://medium.com/illumination/writing-is-breathing-cb6f7156048a. Sep, 2021.

“Mestiza Consciousness of La Frontera/Borderlands in Sandra Cisneros and Helena María Viramontes.”The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of the American West, edited by Steven Frye, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2016, pp. 170–183. Cambridge Companions to Literature. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316155097.014

"Adiós Margarita Cansino, Hello Rita Hayworth." Starbodies and the Erotics of Sufffering. Eds. Rebecca Bell-Metereau and Colleen Glenn. Detroit: Wayne State Press (2015). 149-166.

"Linda Rader Overman achieves her PhD from ‘merry ole England." Connect: University of Cumbria. (Spring 2015): 12-13.

"Ekphrastic Narrative:a genre focalizing image and text." International Journal of Arts & Sciences.  ISSN: 1944-6934 :: Volume 05 :: Number 06 (2012) Copyright © 2012 by UniversityPublications.net

Pictures on the Wall of My Life: "As in Photography, So in Prose, or So The Ekphrasis Goes." (Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities, 9th Annual Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, Jan 9-12, 2011). Conference Proceedings.

"War Remembrances with Layers of Time." The Norton Mix: A new customizable printer reader database. W. W Norton & Co. Spring 2010.

"Goodbye Rita Hayworth, Hello Margarita Cansino."Reflect, Inform, Persuade: College Writing in the 21st Century. Ed. Elizabeth Rodriguez Kessler. New York: Longman (2009).

"Adiós Rita Hayworth, Hello Margarita Cansino." Honorable Mention Award in nonfiction in New Millennium Writings 26 Summer 2008 competition.

Interview with Linda Rader Overman, author of Letters Between Us by Irene Watson. Today, Tyler R. Tichelaar is pleased to interview Linda Overman, who is here to talk about her new book, “Letters Between Us.”

Letters Between Us. Texas: Plain View Press (2008). A first (epistolary) novel about a troubled writer's search to understand a friend's mysterious death at a mental institution leading to her own self-discovery and transformation. Finalist National Best Books 2008 Awards: Fiction & Lit: Chick Lit/Women's Lit category sponsored by USA Book News.
Finalist in the Novella & Best Cover Design Fiction categories of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards! www.IndieBookAwards.com

Chronicles of an Ordinary Woman. Read author's weblog. 2006-current.

"Family Pictures Shape Memory." Chican@s in the Conversations. Eds. Elizabeth Rodriguez Kessler and Anne Perrin. New York: Longman (2007). ISBN-13: 9780321394170.

"Conversations with Memory." Talking River. 19 (2005): 62-80.

"Project Chiapas." Hands across Borders: A Multicultural Reader.Ed. Elizabeth Rodriguez Kessler. New York: Longman. 2002. 245-249. ISBN: 0-321-09573-1.

"Radio Days." When We Speak Of War: Narratives of World War II. Ed. Elizabeth Rodriguez Kessler. Jackie Kogan, Mary Marca, Linda Rader Overman. Eds. Assoc. Northridge: California State University Northridge, English Department. 2001. 83-87. Available at Library of Congress, Veteran's History Project, Oviatt Library at CSUN, & at National D Day Museum.

"Air Transport Command." When We Speak Of War: Narratives of World War II. Ed. Elizabeth Rodriguez Kessler. Jackie Kogan, Mary Marca, Linda Rader Overman Eds. Assoc. Northridge: California State University Northridge, English Department. 2001. 11-13. Available at Library of Congress, Veteran's History Project, Oviatt Library at CSUN, & at National D Day Museum.

"Weaving a Cuento in Travel and Journal Writing in Chiapas." Pacific Coast Philology. (2001):102-116.

"Telling un Cuento in Travel and Journal Writing-Project Chiapas." Willa: Journal of the Women in Literature and Life Assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English 7 (1998): Vol. VII, p. 20-22.

"An Afternoon With Dr. Noreen." Verbatim. California State University, Northridge Graduate Newsletter. Fall 1998.

"Mestiza Consciousness of La Frontera/Borderlands in Sandra Cisneros and Helena Maria Viramontes." Bringing the World Together . Ed. Lemuel Berry Jr. NAAAS . Conference Proceedings. Research Abstracts International: 1996. Order # LD03520.

"Chinese Goddess of Mercy." ESC! 3.1:(Summer/Fall 1994), 35-39.

"Golden Boy." onTarget 6 (Summer 1994).

"A Garden of Bars." Spillway. 1.2:(Fall 1993).

"Women of Courage." Voices 3 (1992): 86-94.

"i don't want to go on living."  onthebus 8 & 9 (1991).

CONFERENCE PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS

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THOUSAND OAKS, READS, 2023, ONE CITY ONE BOOK program-Invited to speak at to lead a creative writing workshop for beginning and aspiring writers with teens 16+ welcome to join at the Thousand Oaks Library in the Grant R. Brimhall Library Community Room on Saturday April 1, 2023, at 3PM.

"Ekphrastic Narrative:a genre focalizing image and text." ( Genre 2012 - Rethinking Genre 20 years later, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada, June 26 - 29, 2012).

"Ekphrastic Narrative:a genre focalizing image and text." (International Conference for Academic Disciplines, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 14, 2012).

Pictures on the Wall of My Life: "As in Photography, So in Prose, or So The Ekphrasis Goes." (Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities, 9th Annual Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, Jan 9, 2011).

Pictures on the Wall of My Life: "As in Photography, So in Prose." (Doctoral Colloquium, University Of Cumbria, Lancaster Campus, UK, July 14, 2010). .

"Developing Portraits with Layers of Time." ( The Photograph: An International Interdisciplinary Conference. University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, March 11-13, 2004).

"Stages in the Process of the Move from BI to an Integrated Information Literacy Program." Incorporating IL into Teaching & Evaluation. (CARL-SCIL Spring Program 2003. California State University, Long Beach, CA, May 16, 2003).

"Weaving a Cuento: Travel and Journal Writing in Chiapas." (Pacific and Ancient Modern Language Association Annual Conference, Autobiography, UCLA, CA, November 10, 2000).

Presenter, PC Duo & the English Department Lab, "Collaborative Efforts in Technology Mediated Teaching and Learning," SALT Conference (Southwest Association for Language Learning Technology, California State University, Northridge, CA, November 5, 1999).

"Telling un Cuento in Travel and Journal Writing--Project Chiapas." (Twenty-Third Annual Colloquium on Literature and Film. "Representing Identities: Biography and Autobiography." West Virginia University, Morgantown, WVA, October 15-17, 1998.)

"Mestiza Consciousness in the Works of Helena M. Viramontes." (XVII Simposio Internacional, La Mujer en La Literatura Del Mundo Hispanico, California State University, Northridge, CA, October 9-10, 1998).

"Project Chiapas: Buscando La Palabra." (Conference on College Composition and Communication, Chicago, IL, April 1-4, 1998). Dream Award.

"Mestiza Consciousness of La Frontera/Borderlands in Sandra Cisneros and Helena Maria Viramontes." (National Conferences for the National Association of African-American Studies and the National Association of Hispanic and Latino Studies, Houston, TX, February 13-17, 1996).

OTHER PRESENTATIONS AND PROGRAMS

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Hosts podcast titled THE LAST THING I WISHED I SAID. This is a show where we explore feelings of grief and the ability to express them in conversation with a departed loved one. We’ll look at stages of grief, things left unsaid, ways to heal and the larger implications from such a loss. The show enables listeners to understand their own losses with a deeper insight. It is available on Apple Podcasts,You Tube, Amazon Music, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. direct link: THE LAST THING I WISHED I SAID

Presenter, "Harper Lee's Go Set A Watchman Panel Discussion." Los Angeles Public Library West Valley Regional Branch, 24 Oct 2015.

Featured Speaker, "If It's Written in First Person, It Must be True, Well Guess What . . . It Isn't!" SAGE Society Forum Luncheon, (Knollwood Country Club, June 5, 2009).

Speaker, "Annual Words, Wit, and Wisdom Authors & Book Luncheon." (Brandeis National Committee San Fernando Valley Chapter, Skirball Cultural Center, April 29, 2009).

Presenter. "Writer/Teacher" Brown Bag Series presents Linda Overman, Elyce Wakerman, Stephanie Satie, and Leilani Hall. California State Univsersity, Northridge. 6, Nov 2006.

Moderator, "Panel 1: Multi-Genre: Approaches to Gay Studies." (Associated Graduate Students in English Conference, California State University, Northridge. 9 March, 2002).

Moderator, "Panel 3: Creative Writing 1, Voices on the Edge: Creators and Critics," (Associated Graduate Students in English Conference, California State University, Northridge. 4 March, 2000).

Presenter. "Telling Un Cuento in Travel and Journal Writing-Project Chiapas." Brown Bag Lunch Discussion featuring Jack Lopez, Tim Lehnert, Linda Overman. California State Univsersity, Northridge. 30, Nov 1999.

Conducted seminars on test-taking strategies, notetaking strategies, study skills, writing essay exams, writing research papers, grammar and proofreading for California State University, Northridge, Writing Center, 1998-2001.

Conducted workshops on HyperNews Forums and IRC for use in the classroom for California State University, Northridge, Internet Technology Resources, Learning Resource Center, Fall 1998-current.

Conducted computer lab workshops for the English Department Faculty Training, California State University Northridge, Fall 1998.

Conducted computer lab seminars on teaching English 155, Freshman Composition for the Humanities Department, California State University, Northridge, Spring 1998-Summer 1999.

Zarate, Luis. "Extranjeros hacen donativo a mujeres de San Pedro." Cuarto Poder. 29 April 1997. ("Foreigners make a donation to the women of San Pedro." This article was published in San Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico, after my human rights work in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. I participated in this trip as part of English 487, Literature of the Maya, with Dr. Jan Ramjerdi. We visited 360 villagers (mostly women and children) in a makeshift refugee camp shortly after a violent Zapatista confrontation between the Maya, and the state police caused these indigenous people to be forcibly ejected from their village, some were killed, and others falsely imprisoned. We documented our visit for The Human Rights Center, San Bartolome de las Casas via video tape and written testimony. The newspaper article highlighted the fact that this was the first time any foreigner or visiting university student (me), for that matter, insisted that a large monetary donation to an indigenous people be given exclusively to the women of a Mayan village.)

AWARD AND HONORS

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"The American Came to Lons-Le-Saunier with an exclusive document--we explain.""Cette Américaine est venue à Lons-le-Saunier avec un document exclusif : on vous explique." At the end of June 2024, Linda Overman came directly from the USA with an unpublished video in her luggage. We tell you everything about this story. Voix du Jura. 3 July, 2024.

Excellence in Teaching Award for the 2017-2018 Academic Year by the students of CSUN Department of English.

Excellence in Teaching Award for the 2016-2017 Academic Year by the Associated Graduate Students in English and Sigma Tau Delta Iota Chi, CSUN.

Letters Between Us. Texas: Plain View Press (2008). A first (epistolary) novel about a troubled writer's search to understand a friend's mysterious death at a mental institution leading to her own self-discovery and transformation. Finalist National Best Books 2008 Awards: Fiction & Lit: Chick Lit/Women's Lit category sponsored by USA Book News. In addition selected as a Finalist in Novella & Finalist in Best Cover Design Fiction categories of 2009 Indie Book Awards

Member, Association of Writers and Writing Programs 2008-2010.

Listed, Marquis Who's Who in America 2009.

Associate Member. Pen USA West. 2003-2009.

Dream Award. "Project Chiapas: Buscando La Palabra." (Conference on College Composition and Communication, Chicago, IL, April 1-4, 1998).

Faculty Web Course Project Grant to develop a course webpage for English 155 Freshman Composition course, California State University, Northridge, Fall 1997.

Member, Golden Key National Honor Society, 1995-present.

Member, Sigma Tau Delta, 1995-present.

Dean's List, Spring 1995 and Spring 1996.

Finalist Award, Letters Between Us, Adult Novel, Pacific Northwest Writer's Conference, July 26,1991

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

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Retirement in 2026

"Writing the Self in Photographs." Taught Creative Writing Workshops to graduate students and faculty at College of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China. June 5-6, 2007.

Reviewer. Acknowledgment of Special Thanks. Atwan, Robert. Convergences: Message, Method, Medium. 2nd Edition. Boston: Bedford St. Martins. 2005.

Lecturer, California State University, Northridge, Department of English: Literature & Composition, Fall 2001-current.

Lecturer, California State University, Northridge, Department of Undergraduate Studies: University 100. Fall 2002-2003.

Lecturer, California State University, Northridge, Department of Chicano Studies: Composition, Fall 2001-Spring 2002.

Teaching Associate Internship, MFA Consortium. Pregnant Minor Program, Division of Alternative Education, Northwest AEC, New Directions for Youth, Van Nuys, CA. Spring 2001.

• Taught a weekly creative writing section in order to assist Jill Myers, Pregnant Program Teacher, in teaching the writing component to her class of approximately twenty-five young women ages 13-17 who are completing their high school diplomas. I mentored these women throughout the day in all of their writing projects.

Technical Officer, Associated Graduate Students of English, California State University, Northridge, Spring 2000-2001.

Teaching Associate/Personal Assistant for Dr. Irene Clark, Director of Composition, California State University, Northridge, Department of English, Fall 2000.

Teaching Associate, California State University, Northridge, Department of English, English 155, 1997-2000.

• Designed and taught in a computer enhanced classroom alternating weekly with a traditional classroom.

Reader, Writing Proficiency Exam, California State University, Northridge, Writing Center, Fall 1998-current.

Writing Consultant, California State University, Northridge, Writing Center, Fall 1998-2001. Tutor students and other members of the university community in all aspects of writing and conduct a variety writing seminars.

Facilitator, English Department Computer Lab, between the Humanities Department technology supervisor and English Department faculty by publishing and consistently updating an online computer lab procedures manual. This enables faculty, who teach in a computer enhanced classroom, to keep up-to-date with the technological advances utilized in the lab, as they occur, for classroom implementation. California State University, Northridge, Fall 1997-2000.

Reader, Wings: Student Essays from the Freshman Composition Program at California State University, Northridge. Fall 1999.

Production Staff, Wings: Student Essays from the Freshman Composition Program at California State University, Northridge. Fall 1997.

Notetaker, for deaf students. National Center on Deafness, California State University, Northridge, 1992-1997.

REFERENCES

Stephen Gutierrez, MFA Associate Professor California State University, East Bay 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd. Hayward, CA 94542-3095 510-885-3400	Sandra Stanley,Ph.D Professor, Department of English, ret. California State University, Northridge 18111 Nordhoff St. Northridge, CA 91330 818-677-3431	Carole Oles, MA MFA Coordinator, ret. California State University, Chico Chico, California 95929-0830 530-898-4450
Elizabeth Mood, PhD ret. Creative Writing University of Cumbria-Lancaster Bowerham Road Lancaster, Lancashire, U.K. LA1 3JD	Irene Clark, PhD. Director of Composition, Department of English California State University, Northridge 18111 Nordhoff St. Northridge, CA 91330 818-677-3414

Collectors after my professorial heart as books are my passion--Love you Karl Lagerfeld

Ten Famous Book Hoarders 

Collectors after my professorial heart as books are my passion I would love to own just as many which would mean I would have a large mansion in which to put them in or a library of my very own.  I am working on that!

Michael Overman (my son) won a TEA award for his work on Priddy Family Foundation Theater at National WWII Museum in New Orleans

 Themed Entertainment Award for Priddy Family Foundation Theater

way to go Mike --all those art classes paid off 

love momma

Where Have You Been? Where are You Going?: Reconsidering Literacy Narratives in the Context of Neuroscience Research

 Here is an amazing article [click title below] by a colleague of mine Dr. Irene Clark in it she references the article published on this site by our former student Enrique Solis

Where Have You Been? Where are You
Going?: Reconsidering Literacy Narratives in
the Context of Neuroscience Research
 

Irene Clark
 

Abstract
This article argues that literacy narratives should be viewed as an important
genre in composition courses, and in other courses as well, because they can help
students consider and reconsider who they were, who they are, and who they
want to become, both as individuals and as members of a culture or commu-
nity. Engaging with neuroscience scholarship, critical race theory, and counter
story, it maintains that recalling “stories” of literacy acquisition can provide stu-
dents with transformative insight into educational inequities, entrenched power
structures, and challenges that may have impacted their previous involvements
with literacy. Because writing a literacy narrative involves reflection about pre-
vious “scripts” associated with literacy and education, it is a genre that can be
enlightening for all students, those from privileged as well as from disadvan-
taged backgrounds, enabling them to critique the cultural, political, and social
forces that have impacted their educational experiences and to replace damage-
centered scripts and traumas with affirming insights and plans. The article uti-
lizes current research in neuroplasticity to provide support for this perspective,
in that it demonstrates that different identities are manifested in the brain.
Examples of students’ work are included.1
In order to enter this particular literary community, I
had to first give up a huge part of myself. Now, as I grow
and come to fruition as a writer, I feel encouraged to find
a way to rediscover and utilize those passionate parts of
myself that I previously worked so hard to suppress.
—Enrique Solis, “Delving into a New World,” (p� 301)
I realized how different my family was from the aver-
age American family . . . but two months later, my mom
signed my sister and me up for a free after-school com-
puter course and got us each a library card, ensuring that
her children never had to go through that again.
—Charlie

originally published in 

Clark, Irene. WPA: Writing Program Administration, vol 47, no 2, 2024, pp 84–103. 

 World War 2 & French Resistance

My father William Rader served in the OSS and worked in France during August of 1944 with the French Resistance behind the German lines at the time. Here is many of his amazing photos of the mission taken with his team.

Also there is a you tube video below I added of his exploits and his OSS teams in the JURA region of France during the same time.  

 

Dad's descriptions of the many actions are also included here as well as a French Translation that I presented in France last summer in La Motte, Lons Le Saunier as well.  I awarded them and the Museum of the Resistance and Deportation in Besancon  the OSS Congressional Medal of Honor for each of the towns many brave underground activities during WW2.

One of the French newspapers in Lons-Le-Saunier covered the medal ceremony and the mayor honored me [and Dad] with an honorary citizenship of the city which I am forever grateful for and I know my dad was pleased watching from the heavens above.  See article below in French of course.

"The American Came to Lons-Le-Saunier with an exclusive documentL we explain.""Cette Américaine est venue à Lons-le-Saunier avec un document exclusif : on vous explique." At the end of June 2024, Linda Overman came directly from the USA with an unpublished video in her luggage. We tell you everything about this story. Voix du Jura. 3 July, 2024.  

Linda Rader Overman - proud of her former student & teacher Enrique Solis who published a brilliant essay-"Delving Into a New World: A Sell Out or Success Story? "

Delving Into a New World: A Sell Out or Success Story?

By Enrique Solis

In high school, I failed eight classes, took summer school every year, and barely graduated with a 2.1 GPA. And those are just my academic shortcomings. Don’t forget the curfew tickets, truancy tickets, arrests, gang activity, and the two occasions I succeeded in evading police helicopters. The miscreant, the delinquent, statistic, society’s worst nightmare—Me. Strangely, it took hindsight to see this person. At the time I thought of myself as the experiencer—one enthralled and beckoned by nature, the universe, music, humanity, and danger. I was the boy who shot out street lights to see the stars. I knocked on friends’ windows at 3 a.m. to wander, talk, and trespass into deserted buildings and on school roofs before watching the sunrise. I climbed into my window at 6 a.m. to start my school day at 7:30 a.m.

What could high school offer this experiencer? Ideally a lot. But almost everything about my particular high school was cumbersome and lifeless. Good grades were the end all, be all. I saw no value in this system—I had already learned that getting an “A” had less to do with actually learning than passively completing busywork. My priorities consisted of testing my limitations—mentally and physically—and engaging with the world on multiple levels. It seemed that almost every class I attended strove to anchor me down to a rigid world where success was going through the motions and learning to do what you’re told. I was bored. And quite frankly, I was frightened at the idea of becoming anything like the vapid, stiff teachers who kicked me out of class for sagging my pants, disagreeing with them, or questioning their authority in any other way. My school supplanted learning with character-shaping.

Until one day I entered a real classroom (real in the sense that learning took place daily). It was AP English: Rhetoric and Composition, and I failed it. This class blew my mind. I was thrust into the academic world: We grappled with the theoretical, historical, and philosophical; instead of vocabulary words, we had rhetorical terms; and we wrote essays constantly. The level of engagement with the texts and with my classmates was on another level. I participated daily and marveled at the knowledge of my teacher and the authors we read. Yet at the same time I was altogether unprepared to pass a class like this—I lacked the structure, discipline, and overall care for school, especially grades to really do what was necessary. I wish this could have been my turning point, but it’s not easy to suddenly stop being the person you’ve always been.

Eventually, I got through high school, just barely, but completed nonetheless. Needless to say, I was apprehensive about entering the “real world,” which my mom defined as a full-time job or full time school—“not half this, part that. Commit to something”. Eventually, I would commit fully as a college student. The semester after high school I earned straight A’s. I felt like it was a mistake. Even my family was in shock. Academic counselors at my high school never even talked to me about college—I needed to focus on making up fails—so five A’s when I got there was way beyond everyone’s expectations, including my own. But I was there and doing well, which was when I decided to pursue a new major. I wanted to become a high school teacher and bring life, purpose, and learning into the classrooms that lacked so much of it. So everything was on track as I entered my first 200-level course in my new major, English.

The class was Major American writers from the late nineteenth century onward. At my community college the vast majority of students were minorities—Black and Hispanic—but as I entered this class there was a sudden demographic transformation. Even the professor noticed: “There are no black students in here, are there?” I raised my hand and answered “No”, and there were about twelve movie posters all over the walls so I pointed out, “and there is only 1 on the walls.” I pointed to a half-illuminated half-silhouetted image of Denzel Washington from Remember the Titans. Everyone looked around to check my findings and seemed to think it an odd observation. But after being there only five minutes, it was blatantly obvious to me—I had entered a different world, a secret community amongst my own consisting of readers, writers, and thinkers few of which were Black or Latino. The students began small talk about a show called Dexter, other English classes, and previous courses with this same instructor. My apprehension grew. These were not high school failures, nor were they any of those students who drop as soon as they get their financial aid. These students were readers. While I was breaking into buildings, they were reading The Great Gatsby; while I slept atop school roofs, they were delving into 1984. Based partly on the literary references they made, and partly on the way they spoke in general, I quickly saw the literacy gap between them and me. I began regretting all those classes I ditched, books I never read, and papers I never wrote. I had read only 3 novels total before college. This was going to be my trial: could I really excel or even just survive in a field I had utterly failed in previously?

The process began. The first book assigned was Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I had heard of this book but had no idea what it entailed, when it was written, where it was written, who had written it, or really anything about it other than it was American. The instructor asked difficult questions and coaxed intelligent answers from many of the students. When it came time to write our papers, we had to choose two opposing scholars on the subject we would discuss. I chose two scholars with differing perspectives on race and whether or not Huck Finn should be banned in certain schools. One scholar, Justin Kaplan, praised the book for its groundbreaking depiction of a black slave, Jim, as a character round with humanity. He emphasizes Huck Finn’s relevance for young students today. Julius Lester takes a cutting and opposite approach. He states that the depiction of Jim is still fraught with stereotypical elements that can be damaging to young black readers who must try to identify with a slave. The instructor had no problem writing Lester off as a loon that didn’t understand the book. For most of my schooling, minorities had ironically been the majority so racial discussions were usually very sensitive, possibly even suppressed. It was odd hearing my instructor say that “anyone who wants to ban Huck Finn is clearly illiterate and incompetent.” I saw his position as radical and dismissive of social contexts other than our own so I decided to take it up in my paper. I followed all of this scholarly work and felt confident in my understanding of the material. I chose to use Lester’s argument to show how the depiction of Jim could cause racial identity issues with modern black readers, especially because the story is told through the eyes of a young narrator (Huck) who struggles with the racism of his culture—I argued that Huck Finn was valued and more relevant to white audiences who struggle with racism at the expense of discomfort or uneasiness felt by black readers. I knew I had picked a controversial position, so I tried to back up my arguments as best I could. I found the task harder than I had imagined and I did not create the essay I originally envisioned. Nonetheless, I turned it in and waited anxiously for his response.

On that essay, I received a zero. Devastated, shocked, and totally embarrassed, I immediately stuffed it into my backpack—hiding my results as everyone critiqued each other’s. I tried hard on that essay, thought I covered the material thoroughly, and even had fun with it. I was ready to quit. The instructor didn’t agree with my position at all and demanded I rewrite it completely. For some reason, it hit me hard: my heart shot adrenaline though my system every few seconds, I stared at a fixed point of my desk, then the wall as tears almost surged forth in front of Denzel’s poster. I honestly did not expect his reaction to be so violent. My paper addressed the discomfort felt by some young Black students when the word “nigger” is read out loud in class, especially by white students. He wrote on my paper, “It is of course, ok for blacks to call each other ‘nigga’ though. It’s called being hypocritical.” Somewhere along the academic process, the argument got brought down to this. I was shocked by his hatred of my paper. It was not truly a zero paper so he must have hated it so much he couldn’t even grade it. I had obviously not been privy to certain rules of that literacy community. In his class, certain arguments are just plain off-limits. I climbed up the academic ladder, skipped a step, slipped, and came tumbling down.

So I rewrote the essay with turbulent emotions: a blend of embarrassment, anger, and determination. I took the opposite stance of my previous essay as proof that I understood the other argument but didn’t agree with it. That rewrite process called upon every faculty I had as a writer (and is quite possibly when I became a writer). I brainstormed for like three days in order to gather the absolute strongest points, labored to find the perfect words, and then edited with a fury. It was exciting and almost easy because I thought of it as just refuting every claim in my previous essay. By presenting his strong perspective on the matter, my instructor, in a way, showed his hand. I knew exactly what the right answer was so to speak. It was then I realized that literature classes are not strictly about making a sound argument, they are about gathering all the information possible from the texts, then reading the instructor to figure out what they want gathered from it. When I turned that rewritten paper in, it was with smug confidence because I knew it was the best paper I could produce, yet I couldn’t suppress the deep fear that my best was simply not enough and I just did not belong in that classroom.

The day the rewrite papers were returned was about as believable as the ending of an episode of Full House. Everyone got their papers but me. Instead the instructor had the nerve to read it to the class in its entirety! He said it was “A well-written, intelligent, even inspiring essay defending Twain and Huck,” then he walked over and put it in my hands. I couldn’t believe it. I felt like I had sold my soul to the devil. Never before had I been more ambivalent: I was incredibly proud of myself for actually pulling it off, yet deeply perturbed by the fact that I was basically being praised for fully embracing ideas that I didn’t even necessarily agree with.

Some would call me a sellout, and the few people I told did call me a sellout. I saw it as proving I wasn’t “illiterate” or “incompetent” just because I chose a difficult position to defend. I had been a social rebel, deviant, and dissenter all my life—I didn’t have to prove that to anyone. If anything, rewriting that paper

helped me prove to myself that I could get over my rebellious tendencies and pride in order to successfully enter this new world. I think most people would say that reading and writing about literature is an enriching experience; however, in order to enter this particular literary community, I had to first give up a huge part of myself. Now, as I grow and come to fruition as a writer, I feel encouraged to find a way to rediscover and utilize those passionate parts of myself that I previously worked so hard to suppress.  

• Published in 
• Irene L. Clark and Emmanuel Sabaiz-Birdsill. College Arguments: Understanding the Genres, 2nd edition. Kendall Hunt, 2015.
• Enrique Solis holds an MA in Rhetoric/Composition from CSUN
• Winner of the Oliver Evans Prize
• Enrique Solis is an English Language Development Teacher / Reading Volume Coach at Alliance Valera Middle School in California

Interview with Linda Rader Overman by Tyler R. Tichelaar at AUTHORS DEN

Thirty-nine-year-old Laura is not having an easy time in her life. Her mother is suffering from dementia and her once happy marriage is on the rocks. Then, she is devastated to learn her childhood best friend, Katharine, has been found dead in a trash bin following a picnic with fellow hospitalized psychiatric patients. After attending the funeral, Laura begins to explore a collection of diaries and letters from Katharine's life. Deciding to read their correspondence to each other, Laura takes refuge in a hotel room where she will not be disturbed. "Letters Between Us" by author Linda Rader Overman will leave readers contemplative and appreciative of their own friendships. The story is realistic and moving without being sentimental. The use of letters and diaries brings the characters' voices to life so readers feel as if they are listening to real people revealing their experiences. Overman says of her novel, "Reading should help us to transcend our peripatetic lives and in the process guide us to learn something more about our world and ourselves. I trust reading ‘Letters Between Us' will do the same for the reader."

I had forgotten about this interview regarding the publication of my epistolary novel LETTERS BETWEEN US (PVP 2008) and have not seen it in years but am glad it is still available online!

 

https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=31977&id=42835