Elizabeth Collins's Biography
Member Info
Philadelphia
Married
Jul 2009
I have my MFA from the University of Iowa, and my B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College. One of my essays won the Columbia University Nonfiction Prize...that was in 2001. I have won other awards and had my writings published in a variety of literary journals, including The Massachusetts Review and Natural Bridge. I also have a decent blog: http://prettyfreaky.blogspot.com. Follow me on Twitter @sheepandstars.
I am the editor of the acclaimed creative writing collection. The Beautiful Anthology, published by TNB Books, and the author of Too Cool for School: A Memoir. I also write YA fiction, including my novels Pretty Freaky and The Sheep and Stars (both coming soon).
Upcoming Works
Too Cool for School: A Memoir
Publisher: HBH Press, March, 2013
350 pp.
Trade paperback: ISBN 97809850934
Price: $14.99
Trade paperback: ISBN 978-0-9850934-0-2
Also available as an E-Book on Amazon for $5.99
PHILADELPHIA, PA—Coming soon: TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL, an exciting new memoir by award-winning essayist and teacher Elizabeth Collins.
Elizabeth Collins was considered an excellent, highly qualified high school English teacher, but a sudden partisan attack against her purpose and character left Collins reeling and nearly destroyed her teaching career.
Collins became an unwitting target, “a too-liberal” teacher with an Obama sticker on her car and a Ms. in front of her name who might “indoctrinate” conservative, Catholic girls into her own intellectual, independent ways.
What began with a petty complaint spiraled into heinous threats against Collins’ family, relentless legal harassment, heart problems, and an internationally reported fiasco.
Lauded as “a hero and a martyr” for refusing to give in after the threats and for daring to write about her experiences as a teacher, Collins was also considered dangerous because of her open-minded politics and willingness to speak.
TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL explains the kind of teacher Collins was and is, what she wrote about teaching on her widely-read blog, Pretty Freaky, and how she survived the madness of being the center of a story that is still reported—and misreported.
When a good teacher can be targeted for having interesting ideas about teaching, and using social media to share her thoughts, who is safe? Who will want to teach in the current teacher-hating climate where teachers are not allowed to do their jobs?
Collins’ fascinating memoir is at once heartbreaking, deeply funny, uplifting, and terrifying. Filled with invaluable teaching tips and lesson ideas, along with the provocative story of Collins’ educational background and unconventional classroom experiences, TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL is essential reading for all teachers, parents, students, and anyone concerned with the state of American education today
Recommended Links
Buoyant, courageous. Full of spirit. [Too Cool for School] sizzles. Collins is the teacher I always dreamed of having.”
—Marta Szabo, author of The Guru Looked Good
About Elizabeth
I have my MFA from the University of Iowa, and my B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College. One of my essays won the Columbia University Nonfiction Prize...that was in 2001. I have won other awards and had my writings published in a variety of literary journals,...