It’s been quiet here on the blog for a while, and there’s a reason for that: we’ve been moving. My wife has an amazing new faculty librarian job in Tacoma, Washington, so we’ve been spending the past couple of months transporting our lives and our minds a few hours north from our beloved Portland toContinue reading “I am a writer”
Category Archives: writing
When “Enough!” is never enough
Whenever tragedy strikes America, mostly in the form of mass shootings, I have taken time out of my curriculum to foster a class discussion of the events. I have done this so regularly now that friends have started coming to me for advice about or to share their experiences with fostering such discussions in theirContinue reading “When “Enough!” is never enough”
How I didn’t become a writer, and how I did
Author Gay Degani is running a series on her Words in Place website called “Journey to Planet Write,” where writers describe their path toward their literary careers. A while back, Gay invited me to participate, which was thrilling! But as I began drafting my literary origins, I kept coming back to the stories I told myselfContinue reading “How I didn’t become a writer, and how I did”
Upcoming appearances and events
Things are picking up again, gang, so if you haven’t been keeping tabs on my Events page or my Facebook or Twitter accounts, you might like to know about a couple of upcoming events in my calendar: First up is brand-new: this weekend, I’ll be selling books at the Blue Skirt Press Spring Pop-Up Fair in theContinue reading “Upcoming appearances and events”
Balderdash!
When I form small workshop groups in my writing classes, I like to introduce the new groups to each other by playing a game. What we play varies from term to term — years ago, I blogged about playing Taboo with students, and recently I’ve introduced the new Word Dominoes game my wife got me as aContinue reading “Balderdash!”
Why you should apply to the Sewanee Writers’ Conference
The deadline to apply for the Sewanee Writers’ Conference is coming up fast, gang. April 15! And it’s FREE to apply, so you should definitely put in for it. Why? I’ve written a lot here on the blog about falling in love with the family I found at Sewanee last summer: My anticipation for SewaneeContinue reading “Why you should apply to the Sewanee Writers’ Conference”
AWP 2016: the bookfair haul and the photos
I keep thinking about recapping the last of my AWP experience, but I realized that everything I forgot to say the last few posts — events I witnessed, readings I attended, sites I saw — I can also show you through the pix I took: Los Angeles If you’ve been following the last week’s posts, you knowContinue reading “AWP 2016: the bookfair haul and the photos”
AWP 2016: Day 3: All the books and all the hugs
It is late Saturday night. I am exhausted. I have blisters the size of my thumbs from the daily 2.5-mile walk from my hotel to the conference and back (not to mention all the walking in between, in search of books and in search of presses and in search of panels and in search ofContinue reading “AWP 2016: Day 3: All the books and all the hugs”
AWP 2016: Day 2: the writing life and The Great Sewanee Reunion
I only hit one panel today. The rest of my time I spent in the bookfair, meeting folks — most of them from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Which has been lovely! I started the morning (after the construction woke me at 6 am) with breakfast at the celebrated Original Pantry Café. Remember my plane-mate fromContinue reading “AWP 2016: Day 2: the writing life and The Great Sewanee Reunion”
AWP 2016: Day 1: LA, the bookfair, and hanging with writers
I’m writing this post in two parts. I began it in the morning, wearily sipping coffee at the desk in my hotel room, but I will finish it late tonight. This morning I’m writing about my journey here last night and my exhaustion (already!?) this morning; later, I’ll recap the day. The trip here, really,Continue reading “AWP 2016: Day 1: LA, the bookfair, and hanging with writers”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 