I’ve been reading a ton of little articles and blog posts about writing the past couple of weeks, to the point that my browser was getting sluggish from all the tabs I had open because I wanted to revisit articles. Not all of them are recent, and only a handful were ultimately of any use.Continue reading “This week in reading and writing on the Interwebs”
Category Archives: reading
Oregon Literary Fellowship recipients in a chapbook
Literary Arts and the excellent Mel Wells have issued a special promotional e-chapbook for the 2013 Oregon Literary Fellowship recipients. I have the honor to be among that amazing group of writers and publishers, and so I’m in this chapbook, where you’ll find a little Q&A with me, an excerpt from the novel (you getContinue reading “Oregon Literary Fellowship recipients in a chapbook”
Flash Fiction Chronicles honors Short Story Month
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”
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””
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 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”
Kick your shoes off and wade right in!
That’s right, folks: The seventh glorious issue of Unshod Quills — and the first I had a hand in producing — is now live on the Internet! Lots of amazing poetry in this one, including a few by my pals Hosho McCreesh, Michael Lambert, and Patrick Bahls. There are also three killer personal essays (IContinue reading “Kick your shoes off and wade right in!”
Jersey Devil Press loves you, man
There’s a lot of soul-searching going on in Jersey Devil Press this month. Romance, identity crises, innocent sexual exploration, aliens in disguise, dust devils turning young girls into motes….. Yes, we’re getting deep. And topping it all off is cover art by returning artist Jon Snoek (full disclosure: I’m lucky to call him my brother).Continue reading “Jersey Devil Press loves you, man”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 