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So many of the metaphors we use that come from the body and bodily experience are ableist and predicated upon a notion of “normal.” In educational systems, that idea of “normal” has led to serious accessibility issues, to separate and unequal classrooms.
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Research is not separate from living; they are blended rivers of experience.
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James Brown and Patrick O’Neil discuss WRITING YOUR WAY TO RECOVERY.
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With Gabrielle Bates, I.S. Jones, and Erin Marie Lynch.
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Calling on spirits is a communal act, multiple hands on the planchette.
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“You can make any topic enough in the telling.”
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Biespiel offers a number of best practices—not just for writing poems, but for living a creative life.
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Tope Folarin discusses his debut novel, A PARTICULAR KIND OF BLACK MAN.
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Elissa Washuta and Theresa Warburton discusses SHAPES OF NATIVE NONFICTION.
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Do I want to live, or do I want to write? Sometimes I think it’s that simple.
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Morgan Parker discusses her writing process, approaching an idea from various forms, and how moving from NYC to L.A. has changed her work.
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Gary Lutz talks about his latest collection of short stories, Assisted Living, the author’s right of way, and the sentence.
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Julie Buntin discusses her debut novel, Marlena, the writers and books that influenced it, tackling addiction with compassion, and the magic of teenage girls.
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Need to write something for some reason? Here’s how.
...moreBen Tanzer discusses his new essay collection Be Cool, why running is so important to him, and not being precious about his work.
...moreMila Jaroniec talks about her debut novel Plastic Vodka Bottle Sleepover,” writing autofiction, the surprising similarity between selling sex toys and selling books, and the impact of having a baby on editing.
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Alice Mattison discusses her newest book, The Kite and the String, a meditation on her lifelong journey through the craft of writing, the joys of teaching writing, and the importance of community.
...moreBrian Booker discusses his debut collection Are You Here For What I’m Here For?, giving characters strange and unusual names, and sleeping sickness.
...moreMaryse Meijer discusses her debut collection Heartbreaker, the importance of tension in writing, revision as a shield against criticism, and life as a twin.
...moreSupposedly, the most-common question for a writer is , “Where do you get your ideas?” but in my experience, it is actually, “Do you outline?” I don’t outline, but I do fill notebooks with scribbled thoughts about where the story is and where it should be, and over the years I’ve realized that these pages […]
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Becky Tuch discusses founding The Review Review, motherhood, creativity, and the future of literary magazines.
...moreKeep a close eye on your Twitter account. Important things may be said there that you will be expected to weigh in on, and if you don’t, everyone will wonder if you fell asleep in the bathroom stall of the bar last night and are still there, head sunken low next to the toilet, one […]
...moreWhy is it not a memoir, people will ask. I tell more truth in fiction, you might say. Alexander Chee gives step-by-step instructions on how to write an autobiographical novel, and it’s beautiful.
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Meline Toumani discusses her debut, There Was and There Was Not, the rewards and risks of writing a political memoir, and what it means to approach a divided past and future.
...moreAt the Guardian, Lisa McInerney explains how writing short fiction helped her to develop the skills to write a novel: Short fiction leaves its author nowhere to hide. I cannot disappear into a character or some grand conspiracy, as I can in a novel. I must prove my capacities for portraying one small event in such […]
...moreConsidering the other forces vying to demarcate our time, dividing it up between mass shootings and other traumas, to encounter a packed bookshelf, a library, or a bookstore with a breathtaking procession of spines and all the potential therein—it is a relief to know that time can also look like that, that it could contain […]
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Sharon Oard Warner discusses her latest book, Sophie’s House of Cards, Breaking Bad, how a sense of place informs fiction, and the Republican war on Planned Parenthood.
...moreFor those who start within the establishment, professional writing is likely to correspond to drudgery, and they’ll seek to escape it. For those on the outside looking in, it’s a mark of legitimacy. The reasons behind why writers write is arguably broken into two camps: for art and as a profession. Certainly neither is more […]
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The writing advice I give is this: 1) Sit down 2) Write These wise and talented writers have more to say.
...moreFor Electric Literature, novelist Noy Holland explores what it means to label (and often dismiss) writing as “experimental.” Holland notes the subjectivity and mess inherent in language and form, and why writing that aims for clarity might sacrifice authenticity in the process: Experimental fiction. How can we keep calling it this? Imagine somebody saying to […]
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