Posts by author
Abigail Bereola
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Do Likable Characters Equal Likable Stories?
I wonder if that is the case for many of us. Perhaps, in the widespread longing for likable characters, there is this: a desire, through fiction, for contact with what we’ve armored ourselves against in the rest of our lives,…
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Genre on the Mind
Is the wiring of our brains related to how we write as individuals? Joyce Dyer thinks so. One student in the summer group said she could retain nothing of the substance of her dreams, but only their sensations. What a…
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First Time Author, Two New Books
Kiese Laymon is a first-time author with two new books out. We have linked to essays by him in the recent past. Both of these essays (“You are the Second Person” and “The Worst of White Folks”) are included in…
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The McSweeney’s Poetry Series: Victoria Chang’s The Boss
On August 5th from 6 to 7 PM, McSweeney’s will be hosting a poetry reading with Matthew Zapruder and Victoria Chang. It will be held at SPUR on 654 Mission Street in SF. If you’re in the area, you should join…
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Writer’s Block? These TED Talks May Help
Aerogramme Writers’ Studio, a website based in Australia, recently compiled a list of “13 Inspirational TED Talks for Writers.” Included are talks by Chimamanda Adichie, Amy Tan, Billy Collins, John Green, and more. With one exception, each talk is twenty…
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Two-Sentence Horror Stories
Last week, a Reddit user posed a question: “What is the best horror story you can come up with in two sentences?” The question received over 14,000 comments and Buzzfeed compiled twelve of the best. Some are a little unnerving…
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A Non-Inclusive Feminism
Last week, we linked to Meghan Murphy’s essay detailing why she believes that marriage is an anti-feminist choice. But Ona Anosike has a different view. I feel as marginalized in the dominant patriarchal society as I am in the feminist…
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Don’t You Know White Folks Don’t Care If You Die?
In what ways are we responsible to each other, and what happens when we don’t accept that responsibility? What happens when we do not recognize each other as being worthy? This Gawker essay may be called “The Worst of White…
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Down with Marriage?
Meghan Murphy at xoJane thinks that marriage is a tool of patriarchy. To her, rejecting marriage is the feminist choice. Marriage has been an institution within which women have suffered abuse, rape, murder and forced reproduction. It’s an institution that…
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“You’re Not Surprised, Are You?”
“Imagine a life in which you think of other people’s safety and comfort first, before your own. You’re programmed and taught that from the gate. It’s like the opposite of entitlement.” In light of George Zimmerman’s recent acquittal, drummer and…
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A Man, His Mother, and the Ballet
Jesse Eisenberg, known for playing Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, has published a Shouts & Murmurs column at The New Yorker titled “My Mother Explains the Ballet to Me.” Characterized by one-sided, rapid-fire conversation, the result is a frank,…
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You Can’t Have A Revolution Unless You Make It For Yourself
When a book is read, the story is transferred from the writer to the reader. Occasionally, however, the reader is allowed a glimpse into what the author may have been thinking through letters or interviews. When George Orwell wrote Animal…