(Forcibly) Leaving Home Behind
In an essay from High Rise Stories: Voices from Chicago Public Housing, retired city worker and community organizer Dolores Wilson recalls the heartbreaking process she faced after being relocated from…
Posts by author
Kelly Opdycke
51 posts
Kelly Opdycke is a Rumpus intern and an optimist with realist tendencies. She spent her summer at 826LA, where she helped English-Language Learners master homophones in the Amazon, take notes while exploring the Endeavour space shuttle, and write resumes that explain their exceptional hide-and-seek skills. Before this, she received her master’s degree from CSULA. She will be applying to doctoral programs this fall.
No More MPDG!
Continuing yesterday’s conversation on gender in writing, Ester Bloom explores the rare success of men writing women outside of the “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” (MPDG) box. Ester is looking for…
Syrians United Through Poetry
In a country where censorship prevents many from saying what they feel, a new type of Syrian poetry is now being chanted in the streets and shared through social media.…
A Novel for Selfie Enthusiasts
HOUSEFIRE Books has released a collaborative novel called SELFIES. The novel “is an interactive multimedia project and conceptual performance piece designed to unfold a shared story of contemporary loneliness.” Read…
A Stroll with Murakami
In his new essay, Haruki Murakami took a break from marathon running to enjoy a leisurely stroll around Ashiya, an earthquake-damaged place he once called his hometown. He finds a…
Elizabeth Minkel’s “Racetrack Diary”
No stranger to writing about sports, The Millions’ Elizabeth Minkel’s latest work was inspired by her summer job working at a horse racetrack in upstate New York. In the final…
Fear of Flying Anniversary
Fear of Flying marks its fortieth anniversary this year. The book’s portrayal of feminine sexuality is recognized as a key part of second wave feminism. Writer Natasha Vargas Cooper tells of her…
Interview with Katie Kitamura
It’s as insulting to men as it is to women…Writing can’t be gendered in that way. In an interview about her latest book (Gone to the Forest), Katie Kitamura discusses…
The Essence of Housesitting
Writer and dog bite victim Brian Blanchfield’s essay “On Housesitting” has successfully captured the essence of a job that mainly involves “passing keys, leaving notes,” and covering “all traces of…
The Beauty of First Lines
The first installment of Granta’s new series asks authors to revisit the first lines of their stories and writer Miroslav Penkov discusses his story ‘Blood Money.’ In regards to first…
Fight for Freedom of Expression
In the new book Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here: Untold Stories from the Fight of Muslim Fundamentalism, Karima Bennoune writes about the dangerous struggle some Muslims face for freedom…
The Gram Parsons Room
Rumpus contributor Rob Roberge provides us with some history on why the Gram Parsons Room (#8 if you’d like to know) at The Joshua Tree Inn is such a popular…