Write to Learn

Three new chapters have been added to this popular guide to the writing process, making the fifth edition the most complete and efficient ever. Putting the beginning composition student at ease with his sensible approach, renowned award-winning writer Donald Murray initiates student writing from the very first pages and introduces sequential writing skills that help students find a voice, understand forms of writing, and appreciate the writing of others. The three new chapters provide guidelines for various writing tasks, case histories of the writing process, and connects good writing with effective reading.

Donald M. Murray was a Professor of English at the University of New Hampshire where he inaugurated a journalism program, helped establish a graduate program in Composition Studies, and served as director of Freshman English and English Department chairperson. He twice won awards for his teaching and was awarded honorary doctoral degrees by the University of New Hampshire in 1990, Fitchburg State College in 1992, and New Hampshire College in 1997. As a journalist, Murray won a number of awards including the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in the _Boston Herald_ in 1954. He was an editor of _Time_ and has served as writing coach for several newspapers, including the _Boston Globe_ and the _Providence Journal_. In 1991 Boston magazine and in 1996 _Improper Bostonian_ magazine selected him best columnist in Boston. In 1997 the University of New Hampshire opened the Donald M. Murray Journalism Library. He received recognition for Lifetime Achievement during the New Hampshire Literary Awards in 2001. In 2003 _Writing on the Edge_ established the Donald M. Murray Prize. This award is given to the author of the best work of creative nonfiction on the subject of writing published the previous year.