Meet New Writer Mark Williams

WITS Writer Mark Williams

Mark Williams grew up outside Chicago, IL. He taught junior high and high school English there for three years before moving south—first to Boone, NC; then Louisville, KY; and now Houston. Currently, Mark is finishing a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of Louisville, where he has also studied creative writing.

Here are Mark’s thoughts on working with WITS:

I think creative work—doing our own, seeing others’—is how we all find out we have more in common (and more we can say) than we realized. But finding that out takes trust, and a lot of scaffolding. I can’t wait to join teachers and students in building both.

My favorite book as a child was Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton. Here’s a favorite section:

Credit: BetterWorldBooks

And it was Mike Mulligan

and Mary Anne

and some others

who dug the deep holes

for the cellars

of the tall skyscrapers

in the big cities.

When people used to stop

and watch them,

Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne

used to dig a little faster

and a little better.