In Writing at the Edge, Jeff Park invites the reader to see personal writing as the metaphorical space where individuals negotiate meaning with others and the world. Drawing upon writing process theory, curriculum theory, narrative theory, and many years of practice, this book explores writing in relation to the «self», but dares to include the multiplicities and contradictions of social and cultural constructions of gender, power, and politics. Park uses the metaphor of the «riparian zone» to reconsider the value of writing as a site of negotiation of self, culture, and society. This book is the best of curriculum theory and narrative inquiry, as well as a stunning invitation to those working in language arts, writing, and teacher education to reconsider personal writing as a place of great diversity, beauty, and paradox.

The Author: Jeff Park is Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Saskatchewan, and he teaches courses on writing, literacy, and teacher education. He has taught for over twenty-five years in secondary and post-secondary education in the areas of English language arts, creative writing, and drama. His current research interests include composition and writing theory, creativity and mavericity, alternate forms of literacy, gender issues in pedagogy and praxis, as well as arts-based and narrative inquiry research methodologies.