Cross-Pollination for Artists
I recently got to musing about what I think of as cross-pollination when Tin House buddy Alan Heathcock posted something on Facebook about watching Kurosawa’s Ran. He said that he felt inspired to be...
View ArticleMFA in a Box?
Today I skimmed John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction (a book I already read a couple of years ago) with the idea that I might spend a year or so studying it after graduating from my MFA program. I have...
View ArticleContest News
Last night I got word that my entry in GMU’s Virginia Downs Poetry Award contest—“At the River House, In January”—received an honorable mention from judge Sally Ball. I feel honored to have been...
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Publishing News
Issue 7.1 of Silk Road is out this week. I am grateful to the editors for including my (very) short story, “The Roots of Grass.” You can purchase it for $6 by going HERE.
View ArticleGenre Jumping
A friend recently said: “I love how you genre bend.” The word “bend” gave me a strange image—that of myself playing Twister: “right hand on poem, left foot on short story, right foot on essay, left...
View ArticleCommon Narratives
I was recently reminded of the danger of a good story being lost in the shuffle of the pile—whether the slush pile at a literary magazine or the submissions pile at a prestigious writers’ conference—if...
View ArticleCamera Obscura’s Bridge-the-Gap Contest
For those who enjoy both prompts and writing short shorts, I’d like to mention the Camera Obscura Bridge-the-Gap contest. Camera Obscura posts two photographs on its website as a prompt; the idea is...
View ArticleSummer Reading List
Inspired by Elissa Field’s summer reading list, I have created my own–with ample room for last-minute additions. Happy reading, everyone! FICTION Haruki Murakami, 1Q84 I began this almost 1000 page...
View ArticleTo Contest or Not to Contest?
Contests run by literary magazines are somewhat controversial. I know people on both sides here—those who enter and those who don’t—and I think I understand each position. Most prize competitions cost...
View ArticleTheater and Writing Character
Writing character . . . Working on literary fiction is all about that, right? I’ve been told this time and again, and my reading confirms it. But oh, how I’ve struggled! Reading Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84...
View ArticleFall / Winter Reading List
This is my fall/winter reading list. I was busy typing out a fall list when I realized that there would be no way I could finish it before spring—so fall/winter it is! The two noticeable things here...
View ArticlePublishing News
I am happy to announce that my short short, “An Air of Ruin, 1831,” won the most recent Bridge-the-Gap contest at Camera Obscura. You can read the story HERE.
View ArticleTelling American Stories: The Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference
This is a wonderful documentary on the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. I’m so excited about attending this year that I’ve already started to pack even though I don’t leave for Vermont until the 14th!
View ArticleBooks Read in 2013
I have started keeping track of the books I read over the course of the year. I’m a little embarrassed about this list, frankly — because it isn’t anywhere near as long as it should be. But in my own...
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