This Week in Essays
A weekly roundup of essays we’re reading online!
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Posts Tagged: melissa chadburn
Notable Los Angeles: 2/13–2/19
Monday 2/13: Stephen Kinzer discusses and signs The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire. 7 p.m. at Vroman’s Bookstore. How to Write Romance: A Special Valentine’s Day Panel. Featuring panelists Laurelin Paige, CD Reiss, and Vanessa Fewings. Moderated by Peter Katz. 7:30 p.m. at The Last Bookstore. Tuesday 2/14: […]
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The Rumpus Interview with Ben Ehrenreich
Ben Ehrenreich, author of The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine, discusses oppression, objectivity in journalism, and millennial politics.
...moreRecipes for a New Life
I subsisted on Cliff bars, Cuban coffee, and Trader Joe’s wine. The only real habit of my old life that made it over to my new life was reading. In fact I became even more alive with reading than I had before. Taking myself out on reading dates. Spending entire days in bed with a […]
...more“Racial Neutrality” Is A Myth
“I am calling bullshit on the fact that the same people that are stretching red tape across bureaucratic processes such as child-support modifications, and family reunification, and section 8 vouchers, and long-term affordable housing, and health-care benefits, and expungements are the same people that are drawing white chalk marks around young black bodies. I am […]
...moreJoyce Carol Oates Makes A Wonderland Woman
Rumpus contributor Melissa Chadburn has a new essay at over at Buzzfeed. In it she talks about how Joyce Carol Oates’s The Wonderland Quartet provided her with the counter-narrative she needed to face the world. For me — a woman, and a lesbian to boot — the books represented a kind of literary oasis. I am […]
...moreA Different Type of Grieving
Rumpus contributor Melissa Chadburn has a heartbreaking and beautiful essay at Buzzfeed about how she is learning to grieve for her nephew who was stillborn and how to use that process going forward: “I’m reminded of a gospel that personifies Death: Death, this being that rides a pale white horse, the clomps and gallops leaving a […]
...moreGetting Out of the Slush Pile
Want to get out of the slush pile and onto the pages of your favorite publications? Rumpus contributor Melissa Chadburn has some seriously wise words for you over at her Daily Dot column. One of the wisest bits comes from her own editor, who says, “Remember that the person on the other end is, after […]
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The Rumpus Interview with Jodi Angel
Jodi Angel talks about her new collection of short stories, You Only Get Letters From Jail, defining driving experiences, and the vulnerable sexuality of teenage boys.
...moreAdvice on Writing for Free
In an “ask a freelancer” column for the Daily Dot, Rumpus contributor Melissa Chadburn receives a question on too many writers’ minds these days: Should I write for free? Short answer: yes, if you’ll enjoy it and it’ll help you grow as a writer. Long answer: read the whole thing.
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Saturday Rumpus Interview: Dana Johnson
It’s true that sometimes you can learn more about people from reading their fiction than their non-fiction.
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Drop Me Off the Cliff
On this particular night, I drink the brown stuff that burns my throat and tastes like the sweat of working men and women. I am full of sorrow for the people of Michigan, which had just been declared the 24th Right to Work state
...moreThrowaways on the Radio
Listen in as Rumpus contributor Melissa Chadburn reads from her excellent essay “The Throwaways” on American Public Media’s Marketplace. “If we are saying “I value you” when we pay our taxes, what are the people and corporations who don’t pay all their taxes saying? Are they saying the opposite? Are they saying that all those […]
...more“Diva Boy”
At The Nervous Breakdown, Rumpus contributor Melissa Chadburn writes about her relationship with her older brother. “By then Ken’s life was no secret. He’d already fought all his battles. His last battle was against AIDS. I thought about it everyday when I was dancing in the strip joints. I needed just enough cash to get […]
...moreThe Dress Doesn’t Make the Priest
I am going to tell you my favorite story of how a flower acquired its name. It’s the story of the ranunculus.
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