April 2014
-
National Poetry Month Day 12: “My First Male-to-Male Kiss” by Rigoberto González
My First Male-to-Male Kiss ______was on Mexican TV. In the 80s. Believe me. Like my cousin Mari, I too wished I could be Érika Buenfil, her blonde locks so close to René of the dark pompadour that looked like a…
-
Red Mavis by Merrill Gilfillan
Patrick James Dunagan reviews Merrill Gilfillan’s Red Mavis today in Rumpus Poetry.
-
Where I Write #24: I Don’t Know Where I Write
There’s a window, but no tree. Just the next building, identical blinds. I’ve done a fair amount of writing here, I guess. Assembled at least one book. But again, I can’t picture it, can’t imagine being comfortable in this space.…
-
The Day Everyone Laughed
Think Wilde, Wodehouse, Carroll, Cervantes—comedy has a thousand-year-old affair with literature. That said, what makes people laugh is as elusive and surprising as it is fascinating. Have you heard of the 1962 Tanganyika laughter epidemic? We’re here in East Africa…
-
Unreliable Men
The unreliable narrator lends a particular type of voice to a story. After breaking down unreliable narrators by gender, Elizabeth Weinberg concludes that there are differences between male and female unreliable narrators—primarily, that male narrators lack empathy. I’m a firm believer…
-
What We Can’t Say
You know the feeling perfectly. You’re at an interview. The manager clears his throat, says, “Tell us a bit about some of your strengths.” Despite the facts that he repeatedly calls you juggernaut, you feel an undying, writerly urge to…
-
Notable Chicago: 4/11–4/17
Friday 4/11: Poetry Foundation launches the Favorite Poem Project, a program that celebrates poetry and documents how poetry affects and influences people of Chicago. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky introduces the evening program. Poetry Foundation, 7 p.m. Saturday 4/12:…
-
National Poetry Month Day 11: “The History of Asterisks” by Elisa Gabbert and Kathleen Rooney
The History of Asterisks It is midnight under the sky’s dome ceiling. The moon speaks, saying nothing of consequence. John Wayne is from Iowa, so we hitchhiked West and I realized I never really loved you. Your skepticism of scientific…
-
The Rumpus Review of Nymphomaniac: Vol. 1
We view women’s sexual journeys different from men’s sexual journeys, particularly because we still have a hard time seeing women as sexual agents. In Nymphomaniac we see a woman who is in clear pursuit of sexual pleasure.
-
The Future of English
Are English departments dying? Or, are they simply changing to meet the wants and needs of today’s students? Emory University professor Marc Bousquet argues it’s the latter, and sees more change ahead: If universities like mine are still offering doctorates in…
