Many of you probably know this, but in case you didn’t, May is National Short Story Month. And every May, Flash Fiction Chronicles puts together a list of the best short stories available online. It’s not a competitive list — anyone can suggest one — but it is a list composed by writers and regularContinue reading “Flash Fiction Chronicles honors Short Story Month”
Author Archives: Samuel Snoek-Brown
Your summer reading list. You’re welcome.
Yes, I’ve been lax about the blog, gang. What can I say — things have been busy all over. And not just for me: I have been kept dizzy trying to keep tabs on all the books that have descended on us all or are soon to bloom in the world. What follows is aContinue reading “Your summer reading list. You’re welcome.”
WEIRD teaching, WEIRD students*
This article in Pacific Standard, “We Aren’t the World,” by Ethan Watters, is absolutely fascinating. And I’m grateful for the way Watters boils down the VERY complicated science that Joe Henrich, Steven Heine, and Ara Norenzayan are engaged in, because their arguments are such powerful challenges to the foundations of cultural psychology that we peonsContinue reading “WEIRD teaching, WEIRD students*”
Teachers Pay Teachers: also known as “Robbing Peter, Paying Paul”
This past week, I read a fascinating article by Corinna Meier over at Best Colleges Online. It was well timed, as the two colleges where I work are engaged in next-year-planning discussion of all sorts of issues: pedagogy, organization, online education, new programs on offer.* So the business of teaching has been on the brain lately, andContinue reading “Teachers Pay Teachers: also known as “Robbing Peter, Paying Paul””
You need to read this poem
A couple of years ago — almost exactly — I got invited to visit a classroom of Emirti women who were studying young adult lit in Abu Dhabi. They were working on writing a children’s story, and the teacher wanted me to talk to them about creative writing and to walk them through some exercises.Continue reading “You need to read this poem”
Controlled Hallucinations, by John Sibley Williams
My pal John Sibley Williams has a new book coming out. He’s published a bunch of chapbooks, but this one is his debut book-length collection of poems, Controlled Hallucinations. I know John, and we’ve talked about his poetry before. He’s a bit of a classicist, not in any formal sense but in the sense that heContinue reading “Controlled Hallucinations, by John Sibley Williams”
On Boston
Twice in my teaching life, I have sat in rooms with students and tried to find the words to convey tragedy. The first time was twelve years ago, in my first year — my first month — of teaching outside of grad school. When I learned of the attacks on September 11, 2001, I wasContinue reading “On Boston”
Louisiana research trip: the numbers (and the end)
To wrap up my posts about the trip and the research and my book, I thought I’d share some numbers. My trip lasted 10 days, including 2 days of travel. In those 10 days, I visited: 8 specific locations connected with events in my novel 2 wildlife refuges, where I walked 3 trails (I walkedContinue reading “Louisiana research trip: the numbers (and the end)”
Louisiana research trip: the people
In Louisiana, I had the terrific good fortune to meet with some wonderful people. The librarians and staff at the Cameron Parish Library and the Calcasieu Parish Public Library, in particular, deserve more praise than I can offer for their patience and help during my trip. I also am tremendously grateful for the volunteers atContinue reading “Louisiana research trip: the people”
Louisiana research trip: the bibliography
People who’ve been reading this blog for years will know the score. Way, WAY back in 2009 (that’s, like, two generations ago in blog years), I started the first draft of my Civil War-era novel set down in Louisiana. And even though the story itself isn’t true, there were so many historical facts and regionalContinue reading “Louisiana research trip: the bibliography”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 