Janet Pocorobba
Professional Title: Assistant Professor/Assistant Coordinator for the M.F.A. in Creative Writing
Areas of Academic Focus and Expertise:
Creative Writing: Nonfiction
Representative List of Recent Courses Taught:
Distance-Learning Courses:
Interdisciplinary Studies I - III
Residency Seminars:
Introduction to Workshop: Nonfiction
In Pursuit of Technique: An Introduction to Craft Annotations
What, Me Teach?: Creating the Graduating Student Seminar
Education: B.A., French Language & Literature, Smith College; M.A., Linguistics/TESL, Northeastern University; M.F.A., Creative Writing, Lesley University; M.A. Psychoanalysis, Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis
Representative List of Recent Publications / Exhibitions:
Work published in: The Writer, Harvard Review, Kyoto Journal, Indiana Review, The Journal, Provincetown Arts, Metropolis, and others.
Presentations/Performances: AWP, Brown University, Boston University, Northeastern University, Suffolk University, Peabody-Essex Museum, Cambridge Center for Adult Education, Osher Lifelong learning Institute, Lesley University, The Japan Society of Boston, The Consul-General of Japan, Milwaukee Dance Theater
Awards: Tuition Scholar, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Middlebury, VT. 2001
Teaching Philosophy: My teaching and
scholarship has focused on three primary areas: writing, performing arts,
and Japanese music. I spent five years in Japan training on the Japanese
shamisen (three-stringed banjo), drums, and dance. I continue to perform
in Tokyo and love giving talks and demonstrations of Japanese traditional arts
in the States. I am working on a memoir about this unforgettable learning
experience, and my extraordinary teacher, called, The Fourth String: On Re-tuning Myself in Japan. My
recent work in clinical psychoanalysis has drawn me more deeply to explore the
nature of creativity and writing, as well as the therapeutic possibilities of
narrative. My master’s thesis explored countertransferential issues with
therapists working with addicted individuals.