Columns
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Notable Chicago: 8/5–8/11
Friday 8/5: Head to The Book Cellar to hear Savy Leiser read from her debut novel The Making of a Small-Town Beauty King. 7 p.m., free. Sunday 7/7: As always, the Uptown Poetry slam is going down at The Green…
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Why Women Freelance More
More and more people are leaving the salaried workplace for the freelance economy. But it’s not necessarily by choice; at Bitch Magazine, Sarah Grey discusses how companies and labor policy push women in particular toward freelancing, and why the “lean…
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A Eulogy for the Eulogy
Twentieth century philosopher J.L. Austin asked in his writing what words and phrases could do in their utterance. In this tradition, Nick Ripatrazone examines Morgan Meis and Stefanie Anne Goldberg’s fictionalized eulogy collection, Dead People, to find out what the…
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Dan Weiss’s Morning Coffee
It’s Friday, so let’s start off with a trip through the history of tiki bars. Architecture in the age of mass shootings (everything is horrible). Don’t worry though, the universe is becoming more hospitable. What the Olympics leave behind. The…
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The Rumpus Interview with Ann Packer
Ann Packer discusses her most recent novel The Children’s Crusade, artistic mothers, the writer and her “first principle,” and the fight to like your own characters.
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City Nature
When I look at the skyline of Manhattan, I get a feeling similar to when I look at the Rocky Mountains. People living in urban environments can have a relationship with the natural world, and in my writing I like…
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Data vs. Instincts
In the world of publishing, everything’s a gamble. How do successful editors manage to push out bestsellers? Is it good instincts, or data-driven predictions? Turns out, it’s a mix of both, and the influences are rarely ever clear.
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Ode to Connie Converse
A singer-songwriter out of New York in the 1950s, Connie Converse is one of those musical singularities that are periodically unearthed to our great benefit. An ode to her melancholy, intelligently trapped songs sums up the beauty of her music: Converse’s…
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You Have to Get Up
Corporate escapee-turned-author Xu Xi shared a few choice fiction writing tips with the Jakarta Post. She suggests utilizing the formulas in spreadsheets to calculate timelines and characters’ ages, and recharging your writing energy by getting up from your desk and “being…
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Raw Material
Our VW van had a Porsche engine, other modifications that made it good for tough Mexican roads. Gorgeous photographs accompany Lucia Berlin’s own account, with an introduction by Cressida Leyshon, of her travels in Mexico, drugs, and family life. Memories…
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Vigilantism and Orange is the New Black: The Anxiety of Injustice
When those in power stifle the voices of survivors, they find other ways of expressing their truths.