The Jersey Devil puts on its reading glasses

The April 2012 issue of Jersey Devil Press is online, and this month, we’re getting all cultured. And stuff. Many of the stories deal with writers, literary references, rejection — the grist of the everyday writing mill. And a couple of the stories deal with Art. Capital A. But don’t worry, we’re not looking down ourContinue reading “The Jersey Devil puts on its reading glasses”

Final words: students reflecting on 10 weeks of writing

A lot of my colleagues don’t bother with final exams in a writing class. The essays are the important thing, they argue, and the idea of a “test” seems out of place — there isn’t any knowledge a student can gain in a writing class that they haven’t already demonstrated in their essays, so thereContinue reading “Final words: students reflecting on 10 weeks of writing”

Happy Irish Writers Day!

A couple of years ago, I posted a list of great Irish writers — or, at least, ones I’ve read and liked — in celebration of St. Patrick’s day. This year, I have a new favorite Irish writer, and she’s going to get the post all to herself: the fabulous Ethel Rohan. So far, I’ve onlyContinue reading “Happy Irish Writers Day!”

But if Darth Vader got his hands on the Elder Wand AND the Ring of Power….

You can always tell it’s March Madness time when everyone starts breaking out tournament brackets for everything imaginable. And we hopelessly nonathletic nerds will not be left out of the fun! So Half-Price Books is running an online “Tournament of Villains,” a bracket of evil that includes baddies from film, literature, and comic books, mostlyContinue reading “But if Darth Vader got his hands on the Elder Wand AND the Ring of Power….”

To all my friends and readers attending AWP

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”

“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)”