Non-Writing Things that Nevertheless Help Me Write: Steve Martin
When I told a friend my idea for these posts, she said, “That’s great. Post 1: beer. Post 2: scotch.” This rather snarky answer actually reinforced one of my goals for these admittedly egotistical pieces: all writers have their crutches and vices, and while alcohol is often one of
A. S. J. Tessimond’s Collected Poems
Collected Poems A.S.J. Tessimond Bloodaxe Books, November 2010 256 pages $24.95 Wallace Stevens wrote that “The poem must resist the intelligence / Almost successfully.” That mischievous “almost,” of course, can be interpreted in many ways, and poets have always had different attitudes about how much of a fight verses
Free Ploughshares, featuring guest editor Seamus Heaney
It’s time for our weekly free Ploughshares contest, and this time we are featuring Seamus Heaney again, and the first issue that he guest edited: our Spring 1980 issue. It also features work by Ted Hughes and Paul Muldoon. UPDATE: I’ve made my selection, and so this posting
Wild Coast
Wild Coast: Travels on South America’s Untamed Edge John Gimlette Alfred A. Knopf, June 2011 368 Pages $28.95 This post was written by Luke Epplin. In 2008, British travel writer John Gimlette trekked for months through the countries along South America’s northeastern rim, together known as the Guianas. Wild
Innovators in Lit #5: Paper Darts
Paper Darts founders Jamie Millard, Regan Smith, and Meghan Suszynski are “taking back the lit scene, one lame pen and quill metaphor at a time.” Since 2009 Paper Darts has produced a reliably gorgeous magazine, and the organization recently expanded to include a press, which will soon publish its
An Interview with Kevin Wilson
One of the stories I would include in my anthology would certainly be Kevin Wilson’s “Blowing Up on the Spot,” which appeared in the Ploughshares Winter 2003-2004 issue. In considering writing about the story, however, I realized that instead of me talking about Kevin Wilson, it would be
The Other Walk
The Other Walk Sven Birkerts Graywolf Press, 2011 192 pages $15.00 “This morning, going against all convention, I turned right instead of left…” This collection traveled around with me for weeks, bumping along in my bag everywhere I went. I could have read it faster; would have, if I
Free Ploughshares: Works-in-Progress
Free Ploughshares, round…well, I lost count, but once again it’s your opportunity to win a free issue from our archives! This week we’re featuring our Spring 1991 issue, guest edited by M. L. Rosenthal and examining the idea of “works-in-progress.” Because of this issue’s theme, we’re doing things
Innovators in Lit #4: Alice Sebold on Tonga Books
Tonga Books, a Europa Editions imprint, was founded in 2010. Titles published under Tonga are selected by prominent contemporary writers, and the first titles were chosen by Alice Sebold, best-selling author of The Lovely Bones, Lucky, and The Almost Moon. Tonga’s inaugural titles, Alexander Maksik’s You Deserve Nothing and Ian
The Sisters Brothers
The Sisters Brothers Patrick DeWitt Ecco, April 2011 336 pages $24.99 This post was written by Lisa Peet. If the Western exists to glorify the outsider, then it should be noted that Eli Sisters, narrator of Patrick DeWitt’s terrific The Sisters Brothers, is an outsider several times over. He