NMSA News:
SANTA FE — New Mexico School for the Arts (NMSA) announces the selection of Sasha Grafit to lead its Creative Writing & Literature Department. Grafit is a published author, translator, educator, and editor who has taught creative writing at Columbia University and at Harlem High School in New York City. Sasha is passionate about inspiring young people to write. “My teaching philosophy,” he explains, “is focused on preparing students to carefully observe the world with an artistic eye and to express their own ideas in a compelling manner. When students competently wield the tools of language, they become able to do things with words.”
Grafit brings to his new position at NMSA years of experience writing curriculum and developing lessons that introduce students to fundamental writing techniques and revision strategies. Grafit has led workshops on evaluative frameworks for critique, designed electives and writing exercises for both youth and adults, and has taught English to middle school students in Honduras, kindergarteners in Hong Kong, and high school students in several orphanages in St. Petersburg, Russia. Sasha differentiates instruction by knowledge and skill level and knows how to engage a diverse classroom while creating a meaningful learning environment for a broad range of students.
“Sasha is a fabulous addition to our teaching team, and to the NMSA community,” says Sarah Pfisterer, NMSA’s Artistic Director, who will step into the role of Executive Director for the school’s Art Institute in July. “Sasha loves to write, and to share this interest with others. His knowledge of the craft is extensive, and his enthusiasm contagious.”
Grafit describes his pedagogical approach as being centered in “cultivating a constructive, sympathetic classroom culture that allows for students to be vulnerable enough to share work, yet stoic enough to benefit from feedback.” NMSA’s Creative Writing & Literature Department that Grafit will now lead was founded in 2019 and provides a four-year mastery education in the core writing disciplines of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and dramatic writing. Students in the department produce a wide range of creative writing work and study a diverse collection of novels, short stories, poems, essays, journalism, and stage and screenwriting.
Grafit’s goal as the chair of this department is to “challenge students to write well… and to share their work through publication, self-publication, and performance – reading out loud, with conviction.” Students in NMSA’s Creative Writing & Literature Department learn not only to read and critically analyze literature, but also to find their own voices through writing and sharing their stories.
Application Information
Spaces still exist on the waiting list for the NMSA’s Creative Writing & Literature Department. Students from throughout the state with an interest in reading and writing are encouraged to apply at www.nmschoolforthearts.org.
About New Mexico School for the Arts
The New Mexico School of Arts is New Mexico’s only tuition free, statewide, public arts high school. Founded in 2010, NMSA provides intensive, pre-professional training in the arts tot alented young people from across New Mexico. Through rigorous academic and artistic education, the school prepares students for college, careers, and creative lives while celebrating New Mexico’s diverse cultural heritage. NMSA students complete a dual curriculum in academics and the arts leading to a New Mexico high school diploma. Students attend college-preparatory academic classes from 9:10 a.m.–2:05 p.m. and participate in their respective arts block from 2:15–4:55 p.m. NMSA provides a free 5 or 7-day on-site residential program to students who live more than 65 miles from Santa Fe.