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Ploughshares is the award-winning non-profit literary magazine based at Emerson College in Boston. Most of our print issues are guest-edited, and our mission is to present varying viewpoints. Our blog is an extension of our print publication, and so we feature writing from guest-bloggers. We present their opinions to our readers in order to foster a lively discussion, but do not necessarily endorse all viewpoints published on our blog.
Comments: We moderate all comments on this blog, both to prevent spammers and keep the conversation civil. Comments will be published whether they agree or disagree with the post, as long as they are expressed respectfully and without personally attacking the author or other commenters.
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Monthly Archives: September 2010
Objects of Affection
Guest post by Megan Mayhew Bergman It was 2000, late September. I was twenty years old, studying abroad in Italy, and on my way to Munich on a train. Just before boarding, I picked up a copy of Anne Michaels’ Fugitive … Continue reading
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Letter to a Fiction Teacher
Guest post by Greg Schutz Dear Fred, You don’t remember me. You would, perhaps–I hope so, at least–but you don’t. I just wanted to tell you that I reread a story of yours the other day, and then, even though … Continue reading
Posted in Guest Bloggers
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Writers Rule
Guest post by Fan Wu David, an entrepreneur, world traveler, and longtime friend, e-mailed me to say he disliked my latest blog entry, “Being Published, and Then…” He wrote: “This post is too dark and negative…I hope that in your … Continue reading
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Trying to Write the Southern Accent
Guest post by Megan Mayhew Bergman Confession: I used to hate forms that asked for your place of birth, because I had to write Gaffney, South Carolina–a city best known for its stucco outlet malls and peach-shaped water tower that … Continue reading
Posted in Guest Bloggers
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Why I Fish Is Why I Write
Guest post by Greg Schutz Because I enjoy fishing and have several tech-savvy friends who do as well, Google will every so often sift through the contents of my GMail inbox and offer me a targeted advertisement from PETA. “You … Continue reading
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In Review: ‘Gold Boy, Emerald Girl’
This week, we invite you to read guest blogger Fan Wu‘s review of Yiyun Li’s new story collection, Gold Boy, Emerald Girl. It was published in the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday.
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Special: Back Issue Packages
Interested in exploring the history of Ploughshares but don’t know where to begin? Delve into our private bookshelf with our new back issue packages. For less than the cost of one year’s subscription, enjoy packages of three to six issues … Continue reading
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The Art of the Author Photograph
Guest post by Megan Mayhew Bergman Every now and then, someone in the writing world wants to know what I look like, and put a picture of me next to my work. This is kind, and probably a great design … Continue reading
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Of Stone Tools and Stargazing
Guest post by Greg Schutz “Take control of your writing process,” I tell my students. “Be aware of the ways in which how you write affects what you write–and how well you write.” And as my students look up at … Continue reading
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Being Published, and Then…
Guest post by Fan Wu We’re all familiar with Anna Karenina’s famous opening: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” It applies to authorship, too. All unpublished writers are alike–wanting to be published; … Continue reading
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