The Circuit Writer: Writing with Schools and Communities is Margot Fortunato Galt's compelling account of her three decades as a visiting writer in the Upper Midwest, teaching such diverse populations as Somali and Hmong refugees, Dakota Indians, Hispanic and Spanish Immersion students, and the Nordic children of Minnesota farmers. As she evokes the great tradition of pioneering educators, she also grapples with the enduring tensions between encouraging assimilation and fluency and respecting native traditions and wisdom. Each chapter focuses on particular cases from Galt s teaching and highlights writing exercises and the teachers and students who transformed real-life escapes and escapades into literary art.