What We Lost: Undoing the Fairy Tale Narrative of Adoption
The singular, unavoidable truth about adoption is that it requires the undoing of one family so that another one can come into being.
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Posts Tagged: catholicism
The Rumpus Interview with Esmé Weijun Wang
Esmé Weijun Wang discusses her first novel, The Border of Paradise, about a multi-generational new American family, creative expression through writing and photography, and interracial relationships.
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David Biespiel’s Poetry Wire: 21 Poems That Shaped America (Pt. 4): “Roosters”
the roosters brace their cruel feet and glare // with stupid eyes / while from their beaks there rise / the uncontrolled, traditional cries.
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A Man’s ABCs of Miscarriage
I once heard the only thing faster than the speed of light is the speed of thought, and I wonder if simply thinking about Sawyer’s sister until my head hurts could get us to the place we fear talking about.
...moreThe Beautiful Dead Girl
It’s in the new black sign arching over the entrance that says, ‘Never stop dreaming.’ A harmless cliché, but once you know the history of the place, it reads like a memo to the bodies once buried below. Never stop dreaming. Please, don’t let anyone disturb you from your eternal sleep. For Hazlitt, Elizabeth Harper […]
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Narrowly Avoiding the Spotlight
It took me nearly twenty years and the power of a fine film to fully realize what happened to me in the confessional was an inappropriate act by an adult against a child.
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The Rumpus Interview with Dean Koontz
Dean Koontz talks about his newest novel, Ashley Bell, overcoming self-doubt, and “what this incredibly beautiful language of ours allows you to do.”
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The Rumpus Interview with Mary Karr
Mary Karr talks about her new book The Art of Memoir, the perception of memoir from a “trashy” form, the virtues of poetry, and the complexity of truth-telling.
...moreWeekly Geekery
A real nerd’s nerd. Nerd. Ceding moral decisions to driverless cars. (Warning: A video immediately plays when you click the link.) Your dead dog is a robot. How do you feel? There is no such thing as a millennial. There is also no spoon. Changing research forever! Or that was the goal, at least. The […]
...moreWriting Under the Influence of Catholicism
William Giraldi talks about writing in spite of Catholicism: The Catholic O’Connor, in other words, has no Catholic agenda when she sits at the campfire to tell her story—across her singular canon all is chaos in search of grace, all is enigma unveiled but unsolved, and no credo is a clear victor. In her essay “The Church […]
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Daisy Duke and the Manosphere
The story goes, if you can dehumanize a population with a stereotype, there’s no need to share their fate.
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Jesus and Blueberry Cobbler
In Seattle, there were more white-boy Rastafarians from the suburbs than people lining up to become Jesuits. Normal was nowhere in sight.
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The Rumpus Poetry Book Club Chat with Kathleen Ossip
The Rumpus Poetry Book Club chats with Kathleen Ossip about her new book, The Do Over, Catholic school, the afterlife, poem-like things, and how form sets sorely-needed limits.
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The Rumpus Interview with Frederick Barthelme
Frederick Barthelme talks about his new novel, There Must Be Some Mistake, life after teaching, and why food from the Olive Garden is “execrable in the best possible way.”
...moreThis Week in Short Fiction
On Tuesday, Aqueous Books released From Here, Jen Michalski’s second short story collection and fourth book. The founding editor of the literary quarterly jmww and a long-time Baltimore resident, Michalski’s fiction has found homes in more than 80 publications. Looking at the early reviews and the stories from the new collection that have appeared online, […]
...moreSecret Locker Library Distributes Banned Books
A student at a Catholic high school has been running a secret library out of her locker distributing banned books to fellow students. The student, identified by online handle Nekochan, was incensed when The Catcher in the Rye appeared on a list of prohibited books.
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Nuestra Señora de Las Nieves: Seeking a Saint in the Heart of a War Zone
I have so many questions for Cruz. Does she know the whole story about this painting? Did she attend catechism and Mass at Tía Zenaida’s house? Does she know why we took the painting from Las Nieves?
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The Rumpus Interview with David Schickler
Writer David Schickler talks about his memoir The Dark Path, the equal pulls of religion and sex, and why having a sense of humor matters.
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The Rumpus Interview with Mark Jay Brewin, Jr.
Mark Jay Brewin, Jr. waxes about Catholicism, the roles of fathers and sons, and what it means to be a poet from New Jersey.
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Jokes Taught Me About Sex
This is what my parents told me about sex: nothing. Not one word. Ever.
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Spit and Mud
What I remember most about church is all the sitting, standing, and kneeling, the stink of incense, the calm of the priest’s voice, the hard wooden pews, and not really understanding why every Sunday, I found myself, alongside my family, in the same place, mindlessly repeating prayers by rote.
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