People who know me are probably sick of me whining and moaning over AWP in Chicago this year, because I can’t go even though it’s one of my favorite conferences in one of my favorite cities. But alas, it was not meant to be — even if I had managed to scrape together the cashContinue reading “To all my friends and readers attending AWP”
Category Archives: reading
“I want them to bloom.”
A fellow writer — a beautiful writer, a brilliant writer — has composed a wonderful commentary on relationship abuse. It is well, well worth a read. The power and bravery she exhibits, the empowerment and courage she shares with women, the hope for women, is just astounding: I want people to remember that it’s neverContinue reading ““I want them to bloom.””
Everyone can draw but me
A couple of weeks ago, I was reading so many comics that I dreamed in comics. I’ve now read every Clutch McBastard comic that I can currently get my hands on (must visit the IPRC library soon), so I’m not dreaming in comics much (though I did just finish the most recent volume of TheContinue reading “Everyone can draw but me”
I’m not very bendy, but apparently I’m Versatile
Zephyr at Presents of Mind paid me the wonderful compliment today of nominating this site for a Versatile Blogger Award! Thanks, Zephyr! You are, without a doubt, the bee’s knees. Sure, I know the “award” is sometimes considered a kind of meme or chain letter (or worse, just a way to pad the stats withContinue reading “I’m not very bendy, but apparently I’m Versatile”
Comics dreaming
Last night I dreamed in comics. I’ve been reading a lot of Portland artist and zinester Clutch McBastard‘s collected works lately, and for weeks now it’s usually what I flip through just before I go to sleep. So I suppose it was only a matter of time before I started working the comics into myContinue reading “Comics dreaming”
“Dear student”: one professor’s view of evaluation (and why I agree)
In a recent piece in Forbes (why Forbes? why not Chronicle of Higher Ed or InsideHigherEd.com, both of which the author cites after his essay) on why professors “Don’t Lie Awake At Night Thinking of Ways to Ruin Your Life,” economics professor Art Carden opens with a quote from I Corinthians: “When I was aContinue reading ““Dear student”: one professor’s view of evaluation (and why I agree)”
On self-publishing (no, it’s not as rosy as you think it is)
I’m going to keep this simple, gang: Go read Catherynne M. Valente‘s blog post “The End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine).” Go read it Right. Now. Because it is the best evaluation of self-publishing and e-publishing and traditional publishing and the future of books and everything else we allContinue reading “On self-publishing (no, it’s not as rosy as you think it is)”
11-11: Poetry (modern French)
I opted to pick up some French poetry mostly to brush up on my French. Turns out, I’m not quite as rusty as I thought I was, at least in terms of my reading skills, because I still retain enough of my French to not only get some of the subtle in-jokes and layered allusionsContinue reading “11-11: Poetry (modern French)”
11-11: Russian fiction review (Vladimir Nabokov)
I suppose that if one is going to read Nabokov for the first time — as I have with this book — one ought to start with Lolita. Because, well, why wouldn’t you? But Lolita — the character, at least — has become such a part of our cultural consciousness that I fear any readingContinue reading “11-11: Russian fiction review (Vladimir Nabokov)”
11-11: World fiction review (Orhan Pamuk)
Part murder mystery, part historical novel, part spiritual meditation, part political intrigue, part love story, part philosophical treatise, part artistic rumination, part narrative experiment. . . . Orhan Pakmuk‘s My Name is Red, the English translation of which helped him secure a nomination for the Nobel Prize in Literature (he won in 2006), is many, manyContinue reading “11-11: World fiction review (Orhan Pamuk)”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 