{"id":4643,"date":"2014-04-14T10:20:30","date_gmt":"2014-04-14T15:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writing.wisc.edu\/blog\/?p=4643"},"modified":"2023-05-02T12:22:55","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T17:22:55","slug":"spotlight-on-madison-writing-assistance-voices-from-a-community-writing-assistance-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dept.writing.wisc.edu\/blog\/spotlight-on-madison-writing-assistance-voices-from-a-community-writing-assistance-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight on Madison Writing Assistance: Voices from a Community Writing Assistance Program"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Elisabeth Miller with Nancy Linh Karls<\/strong><\/p>\n

Elisabeth Miller is the TA Coordinator of the Madison Writing Assistance (MWA) program and has had the great pleasure of working as an instructor at nearly all of MWA’s locations over the past four years. She also serves as the Assistant Director of the Writing Across the Curriculum Program at UW-Madison and is a Ph.D. candidate in Composition and Rhetoric. Nancy Linh Karls is the Director of MWA. She also serves as the UW-Madison Writing Center’s resident Science Writing Specialist as well as Director of the Mellon\/Wisconsin Dissertation Writing Camps.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s a resume, a job application, a grant proposal, a college application essay, a letter to a landlord, a medical memoir, or even a zombie apocalypse novel, Madison Writing Assistance (MWA) can help with it — and with much, much more! Offering free, one-to-one writing assistance to Madison residents of all ages, MWA seeks to meet people where they are: in their neighborhoods and on writing that matters to their lives and livelihoods.<\/p>\n

In this post, we hope to give you a window into the exciting range of writing assistance happening off campus through MWA, the community-based arm of the UW-Madison Writing Center. In addition to some background on MWA\u2019s history and current structure, we offer a glimpse into the perspectives of the instructors, partners, and patrons who sustain this rich program. Finally, we invite you to join us for this spring\u2019s annual Celebration of Writing!<\/p>\n

MWA: A Bridge between the University and the Community\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An MWA instructor and a writer hard at work on a memoir.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nearly 20 years ago, MWA (formerly known as Community Writing Assistance) began with a small group of volunteers from the UW-Madison Writing Center, who set up tables and \u201cWriting Help Here\u201d signs at community centers and libraries across town. Since those early days, MWA has grown significantly through the generous financial support of the Evjue Foundation, the UW-Madison Anonymous Fund, and — most recently — Altrusa International. The program is currently staffed by experienced, paid instructors, many of whom hail from the UW-Madison Writing Center, including Ph.D. students from Literary Studies and from Composition and Rhetoric, as well as from African American Studies, English Language and Linguistics, Creative Writing, and the UW-Madison Writing Fellows program.<\/p>\n

With its mission \u201cto help Madison-area residents use the written word to live rich and productive lives,\u201d MWA has distinguished itself as a robust source of writing support by helping writers learn rhetorical strategies and develop skills they can apply to current and future writing projects. Functioning as a strong bridge between UW-Madison and the local community, MWA is open to everyone at seven libraries and community centers across the city:<\/p>\n

\"Our<\/a>
Our one-to-one sessions take place all over Madison. (Created with Google Maps)<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n