December 27, 2015
An End In Itself
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. — Samuel Beckett, Worstward Ho I’ve been thinking about failure all month, ever since I wrote about it in the […]
December 22, 2015
Children’s Poetry: Four Short Takes
With just a few days until America’s bookstores close their doors and count their pennies, I thought it best to condense my final recommendations for children’s poetry. Here are four […]
November 25, 2015
Thanksgiving Playlist
Yes, indeed, the “winter” has come to California. In the city of angels, we are all shopping in the supermarkets of California today. And even though it’s a month past the […]
November 3, 2015
Shorty Short Takes
No, it’s not an article from The Onion. Amazon really DID open a physical bookstore. Wow. Just wow. And speaking of fear, the Prague Writer’s Festival wants YOU this weekend. They’re […]
October 31, 2015
Short Takes
Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas are over at BuzzFeed, PopSugar and Ranker. Want to check out how your favorite writers have dressed up throughout the ages? Oh, yes, Susan Sontag as Teddy Bear […]
September 18, 2015
Mix tape: Mira Jacob’s speech, book festivals, long lists, short lists
Author Mira Jacob tried to give a speech for Publisher’s Weekly this week. When the sound system gave out, she stood on a chair and shouted. When no one heard […]
September 7, 2015
What Work Is: A Labor Day List
“MyKillAdoreHer” by Paul Martínez Pompa: After standing for hours, the room begins to blur. Her mouth opens like an empty wallet as naked dolls march on. * “Untitled” by Xu […]
August 14, 2015
Mix tape: Marquez’s remains, a letter from Ferrante, and the John Green book generator
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s remains have been returned to Cartagena, Colombia. This city is not just the author’s birthplace, but also the setting of Love in a Time of Cholera. His […]
July 28, 2015
Poetry and Play (Part II): An Exegesis Mashup
OFTEN I AM PERMITTED TO RETURN TO A MEADOW / HOMO LUDENS as if it were a scene made-up by the mind, that is not mine, but is a […]
June 28, 2015
From the Same Nothing
(part 2 of 2) To do a little dovetail with my last post: what follows is more about animal-human relationships against a backdrop of giant unknowingness. Earlier this month, I […]
June 5, 2015
My My Emily Dickinson
Last week I finally visited Emily Dickinson’s house, a place that had haunted me as though I’d been there before but couldn’t recall the wallpaper, and couldn’t let go of trying […]
May 5, 2015
Bashōand my Grandmother: Reflections of Travel, 1689 & 1968, Part 2
Last week I wrote about my grandmother Kitty’s travel journal from 1968 alongside Bashō’s travel journal from 1689. While journeying to foreign coasts, the two forty-somethings kept time by scribbling about practical […]