Experienced tutor in Drum in Chatham, Paul offers private lessons tailored to your needs.

Working with Paul was so rewarding for my daughter (and her GPA). My daughter was struggling in her advanced English class and when we transitioned to zoom in 2020 her teachers no longer had the time to support her on an individual level. We were lucky to then connect with Paul (based on the recommendation of a friend who knew him). Paul worked hard and effectively with my daughter one on one (over zoom!) to help her develop reading comprehension and effective writing skills. I am so happy with the progress that she made, and the patient, goal oriented, and empowering approach that Paul took with her. When it came time to work on college essays there was no one else I would have thought of hiring to help her reach that next step. Overall, Paul proved to be a creative and flexible educator with a very deep skill set, and I’m excited to be able to offer him this recommendation so that more students can have the opportunity to work with him.

If you get the opportunity to work with Paul, you HAVE to take it. He is hands down one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. His artistry, intellect, and generosity of spirit inspire me to write every day. I can’t imagine where my career would be without him.

Paul is a literal genius. Gold star for the attentive, humorous, and respectful nature of his tutelage. He treats everything I bring him as something of value, no matter how chaotic, and scrupulously helps me pare away at a piece until it is exactly what it needs to be.

I previously struggled with a relentless cycle of over-editing my creative work while refusing to share it or expose it to feedback. To that end, working with Paul has been a game-changer. He has not one unkind bone in his body. His warm, matter-of-fact attitude and genuine enthusiasm for sharing, supporting, and further refining refinement proceses (lol) is the cherry atop his sundae (read: vast arsenal of technical skills and strategies.)

Paul's close reading, sophisticated grasp of syntax as a tool for deliberately constructing and toning aesthetic & emotional experiences, and his ability to tailor feedback/ creative exercises to match my learning style makes him one of the most effective teachers I've ever had. Which feels kind of remarkable because tbh we are quite close in age, and I am baffled by how much unhelpful, unintelligible feedback I recieved from seasoned writers/artists / educators--all brilliant people, but in terms of concretely helping me improve my work, nearly none have held a handle to Paul.

No matter your level of interest or experience, the practical, hands-on aspects of his guidance have a huge impact. It is some serious biz. (!)
I write boring overwrought prose poems, but when I had an idea for a short story and couldn't get started....Paul came through. He grilled me on the thought, worked to clarify and storyboard it together, and helped me crank something out in my usual style to finally rearrange into a narrative sequence, literally word by word. It was a rigorous process; he was patient, generous, and in a genuinely pleasant mood the entire time. He was so cheerfully devoted to helping me figure it out, that whatever anxiety or pressure I'd generated for myself was eventually just stomped out by Paul's unconcernedly benevolent aura. He made it feel plausibly attainable; now I have a novella that I would never had written without him. Truly, in Paul We Trust.

You want to perfect the atmosphere in one scene? You want to produce an epic in 6 weeks? You've just opened a notebook and want to shoot your shot at a short story? You just went through your notes app and realized that you've actually been writing poetry for years and the time to take it seriously is now?! Whatever the case may be, Paul will almost certainly be able to dive in and help you make it happen. I am so grateful that he is an educator; I cannot recommend him enough.