All-Time Favorite Writing Prompts

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To round out this year of blogging about writing prompts, I polled writers and writing teachers for their favorite writing prompts–generally, simple prompts that have been useful to them as writers, students, and teachers. One such prompt that I found extremely useful in my early days of writing was,

Lit GIFs: A Christmas Carol

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Christmas Eve finds mean old Ebenezer Scrooge counting coins in his counting-house.

Round-Down: The Black and White Business of Confronting Racism in Literature

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Like most Americans, I’ve been stunned the last few months by the verdicts in Ferguson and New York. Tens of thousands of protestors, black, white and brown, have taken to the streets and to social media to voice their protest and outrage at the implicit message received from these

The Narrowed Divide: Of Stylists, Shape-Shifters, and Multiple Aesthetics

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  Our collective understanding of how a story, poem, or essay should operate remains in constant flux; every sentence is a new description of language, every piece of writing, a new commentary on art. In this sense, any shared definition of storytelling is best left unresolved, unless we are

Review: Dismembering the American Dream: The Life and Fiction of Richard Yates

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Dismembering the American Dream: The Life and Fiction of Richard Yates Kate Charlton-Jones University of Alabama Press, August 2014 279 pages $49.95 Buy: book | ebook An English professor, a former colleague of mine, once admitted to me that he wasn’t much of a fan of the novelist about

Seven Under One Hundred

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There are a lot of age-based lists of writers out there. A lot. Of. Lists. Here’s another one. Jake Strand, 34, after twelve years in the corporate world, recently found the courage to apply to MFA programs. He didn’t think he’d get in, but he did. His writing is

Round Down: When Books Are As Essential As Bread And Water

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Whenever I drive to my real local library or the Barnes & Noble near my house, I’m always disappointed I can find a parking space so easily. Trust me, I love convenience. But where is everyone? What are they doing that’s more fun than browsing the shelves? Every man

Holiday Book Shopping List: The TV-Lovers Edition

‘Tis the season for gift giving, and what makes a better gift than an unforgettable book? 2014 has been a great year for books and television both, so here are some pairings to help you shop for the TV enthusiast in your life.

Review: Dr. Mütter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine

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Dr. Mütter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz Gotham Books, September 2014 372 pages $27.50 Buy: book | ebook As a schoolchild in North Philadelphia, Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz went on class trips to the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, which

How Books Brought Me Back into the World

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My parents worried about me when I was young. They clipped out articles with titles like “What To Do When Your Child Doesn’t Speak” and strongly encouraged me to interact with the other kids in my nursery school and kindergarten classes. When my kindergarten teacher suggested to my parents