Funny Women: Personal Statement for Creative Writing MFA Applications
Dear MFA Faculty at Private University,
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Posts Tagged: satire
The Story and the Truth: Elaine Hsieh Chou’s Disorientation
. . . a scathing, satirical campus novel about academia, orientalism, the Western commodification of Asian cultures, and the lengths to which institutions will go to protect their reputations and their darlings.
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Destiny as Fantasy: Talking with Beth Morgan
Beth Morgan discusses her debut novel, A TOUCH OF JEN.
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Hell Is a Young Man: Fraternity by Benjamin Nugent
The brutality of frat culture, Nugent suggests, is a veneer that hardly masks its devotees’ miseries and insecurities.
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Reality Is Changeable: Talking with Rachel Genn
Rachel Genn discusses her new novel, WHAT YOU COULD HAVE WON.
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An Irony Full of Grace: John L’Heureux’s The Heart Is a Full-Wild Beast
The horror of violence is not assuaged by announcing it quickly.
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This Thing of Existence: Talking with Rion Amilcar Scott
Rion Amilcar Scott discusses his new story collection, THE WORLD DOESN’T REQUIRE YOU.
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The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #183: Ryan Chapman
“[Y]ou really want to engage a reader, and not abuse their time.”
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Racism’s Shadow: A Conversation with Maurice Carlos Ruffin
Maurice Carlos Ruffin discusses his debut novel, WE CAST A SHADOW.
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Jane Austen in Pakistan: A Conversation with Soniah Kamal
Soniah Kamal discusses her forthcoming novel, UNMARRIAGABLE.
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The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #153: Julie Schumacher
“I have to confess here that I never studied Shakespeare in college.”
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Make Your Choices: A Conversation with Chris Kraus
Chris Kraus discusses her latest book, After Kathy Acker: A Literary Biography, writing about art under patriarchy, politics, and “the truth.”
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Discomfort, Desire, and Drugs: Talking with Ben Gwin
Ben Gwin discusses his debut novel, Clean Time: The True Story of Ronald Regan Middleton, the book’s unique structure, and writing satire.
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FUNNY WOMEN: Lifetime Network’s New Channel for Men
Mark your calendars, gentlemen—and watch your backs!
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Both Insider and Outsider: Victoria Chang’s Barbie Chang
Barbie Chang is an intelligent, lively portrayal of the pressures on contemporary women (especially mothers), and a breathlessly entertaining read.
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A Myth of Her Own Making: The Pisces by Melissa Broder
Broder opens up a fantastical vein to offer a glimpse at how we might find each other again.
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Here’s Your Beginning: A Conversation with Lynn Freed
Lynn Freed discussions her recent essay collection, The Romance of Elsewhere, the importance of a good first sentence, and the risks involved in writing irony.
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Constantly and On Your Own: Talking with Natasha Stagg
Natasha Stagg discusses her debut novel, Surveys, obsession with celebrity, social media, and how she approached writing about something so ephemeral.
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The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #111: Alexandra Kleeman
“Are we going to try to restore our country to the condition it was in before, or we going to try to imagine something better?”
...moreThe Times Issues Human Family Holiday Guidelines for the Newsroom
We believe that to remain the world’s best news organization, we must allow journalists time with these human families.
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Beneath a Pile of Tulle and Tiaras: Talking with Devorah Blachor
Devorah Blachor discusses The Feminist’s Guide to Raising a Little Princess, princess culture in America and abroad, and publishing a book on feminism in the current political climate.
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Reality Scooped: Talking with Tony Tulathimutte
Recent Whiting Award winner Tony Tulathimutte discusses his first novel, Private Citizens, the state of satire in 2017, “booby-trapping” identity politics, and productivity in the Internet age.
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Concubines and Expat Husbands: Catching Up with Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan discusses her new novel, Sarong Party Girls, concubine culture, and the freedom of writing fiction after a career in journalism.
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The Rumpus Interview with Robert Glancy
Robert Glancy discusses his sophomore novel, Please Do Not Disturb, growing up under a dictatorship, borrowing and stealing from reality, and his love of proverbs.
...moreFlipping the Gender Script
Tired of the incessant number of novels describing women in terms of their slender bodies, simple minds, or sexual status? Over at McSweeney’s, read this hilarious satire from Meg Ellison where the gender script is flipped, and men are written about with equally ridiculous objectification.
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Podcatcher #5: #GoodMuslimBadMuslim
Podcatcher talks with Taz Ahmed and Zahra Noorbakhsh of #GoodMuslimBadMuslim about the podcast format, finding humor in absurdity, and diversity within the Muslim identity.
...moreDark Magic Your Way to Better Writing
Are you in a rut with your writing? Blocked for ideas and inspiration? Finding those writing exercises designed to spark your imagination getting a little stale? Try some writing exorcises instead, courtesy of McSweeney’s. A little dark magic might go a long way to helping you buck those obstacles to your writing.
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Fresh Comics #10: Hot Dog Taste Test
When I started reading this book, I hated it. I thought, this is what happens when an illustrator takes a shot at storytelling. It’s just one drawing after another until you hit the requisite 175 or so pages that equals “book.” I get even grouchier imagining that books like these are dreamed up as a way to […]
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The Rumpus Interview with Rebecca Schiff
Rebecca Schiff discusses her debut collection The Bed That Moved, choosing narrators who share similarities with each other and with herself, and whether feminism and fiction-writing conflict.
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