Writing with Passion: Life Stories, Multiple Genres

Good writing takes passion. That passion may be purely intellectual or it may be driven by strong emotion. From this stance, from the necessity of writing what matters in his life, Tom Romano's new book has evolved.

Writing with Passion resounds with Romano's passion for teaching, learning, reading, and writing as well as for the people who have influenced his life and his work. It is both visionary and practical. In one sense, Romano is philosophical, encouraging teachers to help students explore their world through language. He recommends looking beyond the tried and accepted to question arbitrary divisions about reading and writing and even, occasionally, to break standard rules and forms of writing. At the same time, he offers concrete ideas that you can attempt with your students-alternate style maneuvers, multigenre research papers, ways to nurture responses to literature, and genre exploration.

All through the book you'll read Romano's personal stories. He writes about students who have been brave, articulate, and committed to their work; his own experience as a reader and writer; his father's emigration from Italy; the connections his daughter made to her deceased grandfather. Interspersed between the chapters are "Interludes" stories, poems, impressions, and mini-essays that set a tone, slip in information, or serve as examples. They represent many different genres, including persuasion, argumentation, exposition, narrative vignettes, poetry, and memoir.

Sometimes Writing with Passion reads like a novel, sometimes like a memoir, sometimes like a persuasive essay. Whatever the genre, the ideas it espouses are always clear and accessible.

Tom Romano is the author of several bestselling books with Heinemann, including Clearing the Way (1987); Writing with Passion (1995); Blending Genre, Altering Style (2000); and Crafting Authentic Voice (2004). His latest is Zigzag (2008), a memoir of his teaching and learning lives. Tom has taught high school and college students for more than thirty years, and he currently teaches writing and language arts methods in the department of teacher education at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio . In summer he often teaches in the New Hampshire Literacy Institutes at the University of New Hampshire .