Instructor Biography
MFA, author of Black Indian: A Memoir and two poetry collections, as well as editor of two anthologies. Ms. Buchanan’s writing has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, The Seventh Wave, Urban Voices: 51 Poems from 51 American Poets, and more. She has been a Writer-in-Residence at William and Mary College, and she currently teaches at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
Instructor Statement
As a writer, educator, and researcher, I have spent the last 20 years teaching students the significance, impact, and power of language. In creative writing, language is a critical tool for helping underrepresented peoples redefine their identities, allowing for the exploration of shared challenges, struggles, and triumphs. Through a cultural diversity and interdisciplinary pedagogy, my role is to encourage, excite, challenge, and prepare students for success in the classroom and in their professional lives. Having taught in ethnically and economically diverse classrooms, I am acutely aware of, and sensitive to, different learning levels, different beliefs and perspectives, as well as different class strata. Ultimately, I love how this “difference” can often lead to compelling discussions and projects, as well as to peer group bonding.