Paul England

Most of my professional life has involved helping people improve their writing, and I am excited to continue that work as a Writing Center consultant at UMaine.  My favorite part of consulting is helping writers notice interesting things about their work, as they explore new ideas and genres, and helping them build confidence in their writing.  Whether during in-person sessions or remotely, I help writers create writing that expresses their ideas clearly and effectively.  

As an English Language Learner (ELL) Specialist at the Writing Center, I enjoy working with multilingual clients.  It's gratifying to see these clients feeling more confident about their writing at the end of a consultation.  In a typical session, we'll read their work verbally, identifying strengths and paying attention to the aspects that the clients are most interested to improve, whether that involves grammar, formatting conventions, or structural considerations.  

I also work with monolingual English speakers, again beginning with a brief discussion of the client's goals for the session and then reading through their work.  Many of these clients are students enrolled in English 101, a course I also teach here at the University.  

I have been teaching writing at the college level since 2006, when I entered UMaine as a graduate student with a teaching assistantship.  Since earning my MA in English, I have taught at Beal College and at UMaine, worked as a tutor to help students with their writing, and worked as a proofreader for a local newspaper.  All of these experiences have given me an appreciation for the collaborative work of writing - something I'm fortunate to facilitate at the Writing Center.