From time to time, I assign my students an essay about their writing spaces. I share other essays about other spaces, some fairly spot-on (like an older one by my friend Alexis M. Smith) and some a little more out there (like this one on silence and sacred spaces by Pico Iyer). And then I haveContinue reading “My writing space”
Tag 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”
The Portland lit community and Monica Drake’s The Folly of Loving Life
The other night (on Leap Day!) I headed to Powell’s City of Books here in Portland for the release of Monica Drake’s already-lauded new book — her first story collection — The Folly of Loving Life. I love Monica’s work, her two novels and the wonderful essays she publishes, and she also happens to be aContinue reading “The Portland lit community and Monica Drake’s The Folly of Loving Life”
Rattling language; wanting to write: Gay Degani on fiction collections and the writing life
It’s funny how writers find each other. Sometimes we meet at readings or conferences. Sometimes we’re fans of each other’s works. Sometimes we have mutual acquaintances and become friends online. With author Gay Degani, it’s been all three: I met Gay in a Facebook group for writers at almost the same time that I discoveredContinue reading “Rattling language; wanting to write: Gay Degani on fiction collections and the writing life”
Quite So: David S. Atkinson talks writing, reading, and his new story collection
Last year at AWP, I bunked up with David S. Atkinson. We guzzled coffee by the gallon and talked books for three days. Of course, I was already a fan: I loved David’s first book, Bones Buried in Dirt, and he and I were both guests on an online reading series at the (now sadlyContinue reading “Quite So: David S. Atkinson talks writing, reading, and his new story collection”
Writing news
It’s been a busy several weeks, gang, which is why I’ve been relatively quiet lately. But a few cool things have happened since I last updated, and there are some more cool things coming soon: We’ve had not one but TWO issues of Jersey Devil Press go live: the special Sherlock Holmes issue (the coverContinue reading “Writing news”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 