Welcome! My name is Gemma Cooper-Novack, and my life and work revolve around writing.
Photo by Sean Riva
As an education researcher, currently a doctoral student at Syracuse University, I focus on the intersections of writing pedagogies and social justice, the development of writer identity in community, and the significance of arts education and creative writing in literacy education in and out of school.
As a practicing writer—a poet, a playwright, a fiction writer, and an academic writer-researcher—I derive joy and purpose from my connection with a range of academic, literary, and artistic communities.
As a writing educator and writing coach, I am invested in supporting writers who struggle with structure and practice and teaching in both community education and school settings.
I would love to talk to you! Please feel free to look around the site and contact me below!
Testimonials
What strikes me in particular about Cooper-Novack’s work is the way in which a compressed narrative seems to inflate into a miniature world as the poem unfolds.
Tom
writer and writing teacher
Gemma was incredibly patient and attentive. She helped me discover and develop my own personal writing process. She was a godsend for someone with LDs like mine.
Victor
graduate student
When she started teaching her curriculum [in Ghana] I must admit to skepticism. Until I witnessed her teaching and the class interaction. Theater done the way Gemma does it is multi-variable, where each child participating develops leadership, management and peer accountability.
Dana
Founder, WomensTrust
"[P]laywright Gemma Cooper-Novack's articulate exploration of the issues doesn't seek convenient targets for blame … [it] strive[s] to remind audiences that conflict in faraway lands is not without its repercussions right here at home.”
Mary Shen Barnidge
Gemma sets reachable weekly goals that have helped me a leave a serious year or two of writer's block.
Abra
writer
Get in Touch
Contact me to collaborate on writing, editing, education, and theater!