The Art of Public Writing

Today's professionals recognize the need to elevate written communication beyond argument-driven pedantry, political polemic, and obtuse pontification. Whether the goal is to write the next serious work of best-selling nonfiction, to develop a platform as a public scholar, or simply to craft clear and concise workplace communication, The Art of Public Writing demystifies the process, showing why it's not just nice, but necessary, to connect with those inside and outside one's area of expertise. Drawing on a diverse set of examples ranging from Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species to Steven Levitt's Freakonomics, Zachary Michael Jack offers invaluable advice for researchers, scholars, and working professionals determined to help interpret field-specific debates for wider audiences, address complex issues in the public sphere, and successfully engage audiences beyond the Corner Office and the Ivory Tower.


"We need to teach the things this book advocates for good writing as citizenship, as workplace, as informing the public clearly, and more. We want college graduates who look out to the world, not those who look back at the academy. This book says all that very well. The argument is convincing, compelling, and could give rise to a movement to acknowledge in writing studies where higher education should go in the current, more open-access, world." -Dominic DelliCarpini, Naylor Endowed Professor of Writing Studies and Dean of the Center for Community Engagement at York College of Pennsylvania.


"The Art of Public Writing communicates that public writing is communication happening between real human beings-not academic machines." -Jessica Schad Manuel, Book Oblivion


Zachary Michael Jack teaches courses in public and professional writing in the Masters in Professional and Creative Writing program at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, where he serves as a faculty member in the Writing, Leadership, Ethics, and Values (LEV), and Chicago Area Studies (CAS) programs. Jack's columns, commentaries, and analyses have appeared in many of the nation's most widely circulated publications, from USA Today and the Los Angeles Times to the San Francisco Chronicle. The author of more than twenty books on subjects ranging from history, to sport, to the environment, to leadership and social change, Jack leads public writing workshops nationwide, drawing on his publishing experience in multiple academic disciplines and previous careers as a newspaper section editor, assistant public radio producer, and outreach librarian.