The question has crossed my mind many times. I teach freshman composition but do not consider myself an accomplished published scholar. In fact, I haven’t published much of anything apart from a few doctoral assignments edited and submitted to a college magazine, The Hostos Capstone. I have published two such articles in this magazine and an article about the use of the French language in the USA in a US-based French magazine (although the piece is in English), but nothing beyond that. I am always prepared for class and think I do a good job of conveying to my students the essence of what they need to know about writing to be successful college students. However, the lack of time (having to work two jobs at two colleges) has negatively impacted my ability to conduct research for publication in my second field, composition, the first being ESL. This begs the question of whether writing teachers or instructors need to publish in their field.

I began teaching freshman composition at a CUNY college several years ago, but I am currently employed as a part-time English faculty member at Fordham University, where I have been since September 2021. This responsibility consists of feedback on my students’ responses to the assigned readings and on major writing assignments. My students read various articles on race in the US and respond to each article. They are encouraged to use their responses for in-class participation. I typically do not collect the journals; at least, I haven’t for several years (I decided to collect them at least once this fall semester to ensure that the students are completing their work as expected.) Another area of intervention is when students complete a major assignment like one of the three required semester essays. These essays are accompanied by a scoring rubric, and students receive feedback from their peers before submitting each essay. I also take the time to provide actionable feedback on each essay in addition to checking off, on the rubric, student’s areas of improvement. Because of this, reviewing and scoring essays for my freshman courses sometimes takes up to two weeks from the day an essay is submitted. What else do I need to do beyond the above?

Many scholars have spoken and written about the connection between reading and writing. In most of the literature, we learn that we need to read to improve our own writing. Peter Elbow, the inventor of freewriting, quoted Epictetus as saying, “If you want to become a writer, write.” I am also reminded a chapter that I have my freshmen read every semester. The title is “How to Read Like a Writer” by Mike Bunn. The gist of Bunn’s advice is to notice what he calls the writerly choices, that is, the choices an author makes while composing a piece of writing, a little like how an architect designs and a home builder puts the pieces of this puzzle together, so to speak. Clearly, good writing ought to be used as a model. However, just considering the model is not enough. What we do with it matters as well, maybe even more. This is where Epictetus’ statement makes a whole lot of sense. I can spend days, weeks, months, and even years reading good literature, but unless I try my hand at writing my own piece, there is literally no way for me to gauge my own progress as a writer. It is only by writing, by developing and adhering to a daily writing routine, that I will begin to truly make sense of Epictetus’ statement.

Now, let me return to the initial question: Should a professor of writing be a published author? I have colleagues who have taught writing at the college level for many years but don’t have a single publication. Some even hold MFA degrees in writing. Being a published author certainly attests to a writing professor’s skill level as a professional. I do not think, however, that a good writing teacher necessarily has to have publications. Don’t get me wrong; I am a firm believer that we need to adhere to what we preach. If we are serious writing teachers, we should be able to produce publishable writing and lead our charge, our students, by example. It only shows that we do not just teach students skills gleaned from books; we are also capable of representing our profession on a deeper level than just serving students recipes of good writing and providing actionable feedback. How about we attempt to publish so we can be on the receiving end of feedback? That should help us, teachers of writing, see things from our students’ perspectives and help us be better teachers.

If you are a teacher, instructor, or professor of writing, including creative writing, I would appreciate your perspectives on this issue. Please be as candid as you would like; it will only enrich the conversation.