Writing Archive
From Start-up to Incubator: Kundiman Means Business (of Innovative Writing)
Kundiman has become one of the most exciting and admired literary communities in America. Its story begins with a handful of people, scraping together funds and finding volunteers, to get going.
Ann Patchett’s Commonwealth Isn’t Just for Suburban Moms’ Book Clubs
I am so into Ann Patchett right now. Is it hip to be into Ann Patchett? Is it edgy? No. It’s book clubby. It’s suburban mommy. My book club of suburban moms met last night and discussed Commonwealth. When we chose it, we laughed a little about what an
Why the MFA System Should Be Used to Subvert Cuts to the NEA
The scariest part of the proposed cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities is that people seem to have accepted them already.
Download One of These Literary Podcasts Today
We live in the Golden Age of podcasts. They’ve been around for a while, but the medium has exploded in the past few years. Whatever your interest, there is a podcast for you, probably several. It should come as no surprise that for the literary-inclined, podcasts represent an embarrassment
Latinx Faculty at Writing Retreats
Novelist Cristina García and I were recently discussing the diversity of writing communities at summer retreats, and both came to a similar conclusion: writing retreats both new and long-established are devoid of Latinx faculty.
Anticipating the State of Literature Under Trump: What to Look For
After an outpouring of reflections on the “literary presidency” of Barack Obama, the writers began to resist Donald Trump before he raised his hand in oath. But in this anxious moment, what should a writer or reader look for from the next administration? Are there signposts in the dark
White-Out Conditions: Poetic Page, Scale, and Scope
It’s snowing again, and the world contracts, like my heel’s screws in the cold. The sky and ground reflect one another, white-gray, and the space between the two becomes more tangible, more intimate in the precipitation’s revelation of how far it has to go.
Alt-weeklies, Prose Poems, Heroes: An Interview With Brandon Soderberg
2017 came, and I was in the market for words to live by. I needed a mantra to get me through the month of January. Miraculously, I found them four days into the new year: “We’re all special once we get to know each other.”
I found these words in
Ethnographic Writing and Poetic Discipline
One of the most important parts of my education, both as a writer and a human being, has been studying anthropology--and in particular, learning to write ethnographically.
How Food Stars in Peter Mayle’s Memoir
Being a lover of food and memoirs, I have a dream of living in a foreign country, especially in Europe, for a year and writing about its food customs.