writing
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Riding With the Queen
Over at the New York Times, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah profiles Toni Morrison in a tremendous essay: Morrison is a woman of guardrails and many boundaries; she keeps them up in order to do the work. The work “protects,” she told…
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Unlike Friends
All we knew was that Casper, with his genius IQ, his measured laugh, his wicked weltanschauung, was somebody really, really interesting to hang out with. A neighborhood kid like anybody else, only not like anybody else. One of us, only…
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Tautophrases and Narcissism
In a world where the selfie has become our dominant art form, tautological phrases like “You do you” and its tribe provide a philosophical scaffolding for our ever-evolving, ever more complicated narcissism. Colson Whitehead examines the relationship between “tautophrases” and contemporary narcissism…
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The Rumpus Interview with Sarah Manguso
Poet Sarah Manguso discusses her new memoir, Ongoingness, graphomania, and how motherhood does (or doesn’t) change being a writer.
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Disappearing Digital Ink
Writers like to believe their words will make them immortal. But in the digital age, most writing careers outlive publications. Carter Maness discovered that most of his career as a music journalist has faded from existence as the publications that…
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The Rumpus Interview with Kenny Porpora
Kenny Porpora discusses his memoir The Autumn Balloon, addiction and alcoholism, writing truthfully about his mother, falling asleep at Burger King with his laptop while drafting, and how he finally found his personal writing style.
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The Rumpus Interview with Josh Weil
Writer Josh Weil talks about his novel, The Great Glass Sea, magical realism vs. science fiction, Russia’s experiments with mirrored satellites, his early days as an aspiring playwright, and how he uses fear as a fuel to accomplish his work.
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The Rumpus Interview with Robert Repino
Robert Repino talks about his debut novel, Mort(e), the publishing industry, science fiction and literary fiction, writing about religion, and how to write about complex chemical ant languages.
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Writing Helps Writers
Powerful writing might be just as moving for the writer as for the reader. New research is demonstrating that the old advice about writing through your problems might actually be based in science. Researchers in various studies are gauging how…
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The Rumpus Interview with Joshua Davis
Joshua Davis talks about his new book, Spare Parts (now a movie playing all across the United States), backwards running, journalism, and entering the US National Arm Wrestling Championship.
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In Search of Ideas
Writing requires ideas. The idea might even be the most important component of a story of novel, so finding good ideas is critical. But where do they come from? At Beyond the Margins, Robin Antalek examines where she finds fresh ideas:…
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The Rumpus Interview with Miriam Toews
Miriam Toews talks about writing, mental illness, death with dignity laws, and the thin and sometimes troubling line between fiction and autobiography.