Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, vols. 1 and 2

Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, vols. 1 and 2 edited by Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. Anderson: Parlor P and WAC Clearinghouse, 2010. 288 pp. and 364 pp. Available for download at http://writingspaces.org/.

Writing Spaces, an open source textbook for college writers, offers peer-reviewed articles by composition and rhetoric scholars and teachers. Conceived in the spirit of Wendy Bishop's popular textbook series, The Subject Is Writing, the articles bring rhetoric and composition's theories and research to the aid of student writers. As editors Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky state, the two volumes of thirtyeight articles invite "students to join in the larger conversation about developing nearly every aspect of the craftof writing" (ii). Indeed, the volumes respectfully address undergraduates as writers and cover the gamut of composition scholarship. Moreover, Writing Spaces addresses the tricky business of becoming a college student, offering advice on how to work smart and navigate academic writing.

Each article addresses an issue on writing, provides a theoretical foundation, and then uses student and teacher-as-writer examples or reflection to develop the idea. Although the authors cite composition scholars, the voice of each piece makes the references...