Teaching
“The question is, Why not see a discipline as an organ for perceiving light?”
Teaching Areas
Creative Writing (Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction); Interdisciplinary & Hybrid Texts; 20th/21st Century Poetry & Poetics; Literary Theory; Editing & Publishing; Service-Learning; Composition & Research Methods
Visiting Writer Appointments
Artist Residency, Art Farm
Sept. 20-October 1, 2022
Visiting Artist, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
August 4-6, 2021
Visiting Writer, Carthage College
March 2020
Visiting Writer, Columbia College Chicago
March 2020
Visiting Writer, UMass, November 17, 2019
Visiting Writer, Indiana University
April 2-4, 2017
Featured Speaker, Coffee & Conversation, University of Denver
January 16, 2015
Visiting Writer, Northeastern Illinois University
November 11-13, 2014
Lecture, “I: The Lyric Self as Rhizome,” Naropa University
June 18, 2012
Visiting Writer, University of Colorado
March 8, 2012
Visiting Writer, Carthage College
November 8-9, 2011
Visiting Writer, Naropa University
October 25, 2011
Visiting Writer, Naropa University
November 5, 2010
Visiting Writer, University of Northern Colorado
December 12, 2007
Student Testimonials
Andrea helped me transform a group of half-finished poems into a complete manuscript. Working with her, and participating in the workshops she led, revealed possibilities in my work that I otherwise would not have recognized.
— Joe Milazzo (Poetry Collective, 2020-2021)
Andrea exudes joy when she is teaching. It is always so inspiring and fun to be in her classes. This class [“Beginnings & Endings in Poetry”] was as wonderful as I expected.
—Shawna Ervin (Lighthouse Writers Workshop, 2021)
“By way of her careful mentorship and the curriculum she advanced (at Regis University’s Mile-high MFA), Andrea Rexilius guided me into a profound awareness of what a life in poetry calls for. It’s not that she taught me how to write a poem or imposed on me some preconception of what/how a poem should be; rather, as a function of her questions, and in attending to the latent potentials in my writing, she showed me how to disappear (and see my poem as not mine), how to relinquish control of words and yield to their desire/direction.
It's strange: somehow Andrea realizes my (intellectual) interests and the obstacles I will encounter even before I do, as if she were always awaiting me in the future; her lessons continue to unfold. All my poems are written ‘with’ her.”
—Michael Schuffler (Mile-High MFA in Creative Writing, 2017-2019)
Learning from Andrea as a teacher and mentor is therapeutic and eye-opening. She helped me find rhythm and build new associations, never short of suggestions for rewriting or rethinking a poem. Andrea is gracious, hilarious, and committed to every writer's intentions, style, and practice. She makes you believe you're a writer and always on the way to being a better one. I felt (and continue to feel) truly supported by her and what I've learned from her and her poems.
—Edy Guy (Poetry Collective, 2020-2021)
Andrea is an exceptional teacher and I am fortunate to have taken many classes with her. She is very knowledgeable, well organized and provides a wealth of information in each class. Andrea is patient, kind and funny. She meets her students where they are and takes them to places they didn’t know existed. She encourages her students to grow and expand the boundaries of what they think is possible for themselves. Always supportive, she takes time to answer questions and help explore the stuck places. Andrea has played an important part in my development as a writer. I highly recommend her as an instructor, coach and mentor.
—Erika Walker (Lighthouse Writers Workshop, 2017-2021)
Andrea Rexilius brings fierce intelligence, heart, creativity and passion to her teaching. Andrea's intuitive understanding of a poem’s trajectory and her feedback always makes my work stronger. Her encouragement and guidance has improved both my craft and my confidence as a writer. I am Latina with Indigenous heritage and often the only person of color in class. Andrea brings great skill and empathetic deftness to predominantly white space group dynamics. For this, I am thankful. A talented teacher has the ability to change you for the better. This is the type of teacher Andrea is. I am grateful to have studied with her.
—Yvette Lonteen y Torres (Lighthouse Writers Workshop, 2018-2021)
Andrea Rexilius is a fantastic teacher. Fantastic as in gifted, empathetic, quietly passionate and committed to the work. Every class is a profound experience, as somehow she gets the students to communicate deeply with one another as we explore the subject and our own poems. In a Feminist Poetics workshop at Lighthouse, for example, I'll never forget my classmates' wonderful work and discussion. Andrea is inspiring even on Zoom. During the pandemic, I took her chapbook class, in which we organized our work, built books, bound them and mailed them to each other. Andrea Rexilius's teaching is as brilliant as her poetry.
—Diane Alters (Lighthouse Writers Workshop, 2019-2020)