September 12, 2018
Re-Reading Edward Dorn’s Long Poem “Gunslinger”
Book I of Edward Dorn’s long poem, Gunslinger, explores a number of serious sociological and philosophical themes in a humorous manner. The comic tone allows the reader to absorb the […]
September 11, 2018
Luck, Lit, & Gutter Spouts
I was twenty-three years old when I won the Hopwood Award for Poetry. A recent college grad, I lived in a leaky apartment that I’d furnished with lawn furniture and […]
September 10, 2018
Little Monsters: On Sex, Exorcisms & Efes
I’d lay down my life for the fawn who, arising, at night to the sweet sound of harp and flute, saw a cup in my hand, said: “Drink your […]
September 7, 2018
Are Characters Real People?
Last week, in discussing flat characters, I ended with an argument that’s perhaps mildly controversial—that characters are not real people but just words on a page, artificial creations of an […]
September 5, 2018
Derrida and Deconstruction Simplified
There is a lot of antipathy towards Jacques Derrida and Deconstruction both in and outside of academia. In the interest of furthering the dialogue, I add my most basic view […]
September 3, 2018
Treasure Hunter
Kirsten Reach enjoys working “in a small town that’s famous for running ten minutes late, on a hill surrounded by beautiful countryside.” Reach herself exudes a pensive calm, an impression […]
September 3, 2018
Why We Chose It
“Origin Story,” by Karin Gottshall, appears in the Sept/Oct 2018 issue of the Kenyon Review. When I first read the title of Karin Gottshall’s poem, I thought of comic books—how […]
September 3, 2018
Writing Is Thinking
Years ago, one of my writing acquaintances (we’ll call her B.) was working on her first novel when she received a suggestion from her instructor to be more specific about […]
August 30, 2018
Present in Process: An Interview with Caryl Pagel
Caryl Pagel’s vision has shaped not only her own poems, essays, books, and chapbooks, but two presses, a literary magazine, and now a new literary fellowship focused on inclusion, equity, […]
August 29, 2018
I’m Not a Robot; Remember Me
us The quest for the meaning of life may be the oldest and most infuriating of all time. I’m on that quest this week. To solve this age-old riddle once […]
August 27, 2018
Catholic Scandals
In his Sunday (8-26-18) column for The Washington Post, E. J. Dionne raises a question that is on my mind often: given everything that’s coming out about the extensive sexual […]
August 27, 2018
In Defense of Flat Characters
Every fiction writer who’s taken even an intro to creative writing class is likely aware of E.M. Forster’s famous distinction between flat and round characters, from his book of lectures […]