Author Archive
Achilles and the Art of the Character Flaw
In the story of the Trojan War, Achilles’s “fatal flaw” changes drastically depending on the version and interpretation. Sometimes it’s his heel, the single weakness on an otherwise indestructible body; sometimes it’s his hubris, the crime of pride; sometimes it seems to be something more than either of those.
Alexandra Kleeman and the Poetics of Weather
There’s much more to fictional weatherscapes than the tonal work that lies on the surface. Weather presents a fundamental aspect of narrative that, by definition, lies outside of the realm of agency.
Language and Linearity in A Wrinkle in Time
What does it mean for an otherworldly fantasy to associate itself so closely with the language of real-world historical and contemporary figures? How does drawing from the language of the outside world enhance the interior, contained universe that exists within a film or novel?
Flora and the Passage of Time
From Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, the temporality and fragility of flowers provide extensive ground for cultivating figurative meanings.
Lady Bird and the Art of the In-Between
Lady Bird tells a categorically un-special story. But as a coming-of-age narrative, the film is tasked with charting a course through that fearful space where childhood meets adulthood, or in this case, where girlhood meets womanhood.
Sappho’s Tweets: A New Kind of Fragment
What does it mean for an ancient poet and her translator—both women—to be taking up this kind of space in our Twitter timelines?
Carmen Machado and the Corporeal Text
Carmen Machado weaves together textuality, orality, and corporeality in her brilliant short story collection Her Body and Other Parties.
Marcus Wicker and the Poetics of Scrolling
How does the act of “scrolling” through social media platforms affect our experience of time and narrative structures? What does it mean for how we participate in our cultures and engage with our own identities?
Rethinking the Strong Female Character
In What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky, Lesley Nneka Arimah explores new ways of thinking about the "strong female character" through her experimental narratives.
The Art of Inhabiting: Hala Alyan and Characterization
The places and spaces of Salt Houses play a complex role in the craft of characterization.