Juliann Garisto

Subject: Language Arts / Creative Writing

What will my child walk away with? The understanding that good writing is fundamentally a practice of attention — of being able to sit still, listen, and focus — and the specific technical skills to develop that practice over time. My M.A. in English and Creative Writing from the University of Toronto, combined with university teaching experience across Creative Writing, Effective Writing, and Introduction to Canadian Literature, gives me a precise toolkit for helping students at every level.

What can families expect? A teacher who is sincerely convinced that any student has the potential to excel in writing, so long as they have the interest and the motivation, and who designs her classes to cultivate both. I believe good teaching involves catering to unconventional learning needs while also pushing students out of their comfort zone.

What does class actually feel like? Rigorous and genuinely encouraging. I write fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry, and I bring that active creative practice into how I teach. Students work with someone who understands the writer’s experience from the inside, including the parts that are uncomfortable and the parts that are genuinely rewarding.

How do you challenge a curious mind? I encourage students to take risks and not be afraid of making mistakes, because the most interesting writing almost always comes from attempting something the student was not sure they could pull off. That willingness to try the harder thing is itself a teachable disposition, and I work on it deliberately.

Credentials and Experience M.A. in English and Creative Writing, University of Toronto. B.A. in English (minor in Philosophy). Writer and editor working in fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry. University teaching experience assisting in Creative Writing, Effective Writing, and Introduction to Canadian Literature courses at the University of Toronto.