A passionate, dynamic, and devoted teacher, Tina Chang has taught domestically and internationally in a wide variety of settings. Tina is available for short-term teaching and school visits through Blue Flower Arts.
Courtesy of the Packer Collegiate Institute
Testimonials
Tina led a poetry workshop at Aspen Summer Words and brought her group together in a way we see only rarely. She created a safe place, an atmosphere where her students felt seen and heard, where creativity was inseparable from being and life was interpreted as art. In short, Tina is extraordinary!
—Aspen Summer Words
It seems to me that it’s critical for students to encounter a teacher and mentor who will confront them with themselves, who will take them on their own terms, who will make them feel that their work is valuable enough to be read seriously, and who will make them feel like they carry a responsibility when they call themselves poets. Tina is that person.
— Levin, Sarah Lawrence College
Tina is the most generous poetry teacher I’ve ever worked with, from the depth, precision and honesty of her critiques to the wealth of useful information and prompts she imparts to her students. Her workshops are fun, wide-ranging, challenging and truly communal. I left class feeling more confident in my voice, more connected to my fellow poets, and not just inspired but endowed with and empowered by the tools to keep writing.
—A. Haines-Stiles, 92nd Street Y
Our students loved Tina's warmth and generosity. I have had many [students] talk about how she is such a role model for them, and how they hope to "be her" when they are adults! Her poems still surface as favorites of my students, ones that they return to for inspiration and instruction. I was moved by how much she responded to each student writer in [critique]! So often, our visiting writers steer clear of recording their feedback in pen; Tina is clearly a teacher first, and one who truly cares about the advancement of her students, even those in her care for a day. I loved her utter connectivity; spending time with her will go down as a highlight of my teaching year.
—L. Baker, Milton Academy
Tina encouraged our class to be authentic and giving with our work, and she identified all our strengths quickly, which allowed us all to write more honestly. I told Tina I was ten poems away from a completed manuscript of poetry, and she told me to get to work and write. Three weeks later, I had a manuscript completed. Three months after that, the manuscript was under contract for publication. All because Tina Chang believed in my work. Her teaching is attentive and critical—she knows where your work can go even before you do. When something isn't working, she guides you helpfully through the difficult waters, always convinced you can swim.
—M. Prince, author of Instructions for Temporary Survival
Tina's workshop approach set the tone for nurturing exchange. She created a safe place where each poet could receive and grow. I was blown away with Tina's careful, thoughtful, and incisive comments delivered during the critique sessions, and I am very proud and happy that after listening to her suggestions and revising my work, the poems I workshopped in her class were all published within a year. I had such a wonderful experience, and got exactly what I was looking for in her workshop: a chance to create new work, the opportunity to learn new things about the craft of poetry, and very thorough, close readings of my poems with an eye toward revision. Tina has a wonderful sense of the essential elements of a stimulating community of writers.
—L. Eyde-Tucker, Palm Beach Poetry Festival
Our students and teachers, accustomed to many guest speakers, found her, as did I, remarkable in her ability to quickly relate to the tenor of the class and to select her comments accordingly. This is no small gift. Tina spoke about her new poetry collection, Hybrida, with a memorable degree of warmth and generosity, engaging the class in the process as well as the intention of the poetry on a level we all found both intimate and inspiring. As we all know, gifted poets aren’t always gifted teachers, but Tina is on so many essential levels. She indeed left a lasting impression.
—Philip Schultz, The Writers Studio
Tina is extraordinary. It was a privilege to get a glimpse into her brilliant mind....She was gracious and ridiculously generous with our students. Tina was able to translate incredibly complex ideas into a language that was easily accessible to our students. She is a powerhouse.