Narrative Magazine
Here is a link to the new, jam-packed issue of Narrative Magazine for your reading pleasure.
The Book of Laney
Category: Uncategorized
Tillie Olsen
I was saddened to learn of the death of Tillie Olsen–activist, feminist, writer. I do love her stories, but her book Yonnondio: From The Thirties is one of the most powerful books I have ever read (I need to reread it because it has been many years–can it be 20?–since the first time). Her words, her characters, their struggles, moved me. And what she … Read More Tillie Olsen
HBO’s Rome
Rome has completely won me over. Yes, there’s a lot of gore (I have to cover my head whenever there’s the chance of bloodshed) and sex (ain’t nothing wrong with that!), but also a lot of treachery, and war, and history. At times, you might feel as though you are watching the nightly news. We don’t have HBO so we watched this series on … Read More HBO’s Rome
"It’s like you’re this small container…"
Here’s an interesting interview with Mary Gaitskill. I liked this bit a lot: The mind decays, the ability to express oneself decays, and there’s a way in which you give way to the vastness. It’s like you’re this small container, and when that begins to crack, it’s horrible in a way because you don’t want yourself to crack, but on the other hand, you … Read More "It’s like you’re this small container…"
"we waited to snowball the cats"
It’s that time again to listen to A Child’s Christmas in Wales : One Christmas was so much like another, in those years around the sea-town corner now, out of all sound except the distant speaking of the voices I sometimes hear a moment before sleep, that I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve … Read More "we waited to snowball the cats"
Tin House Workshop, July 8-15th, 2007
I attended the Tin House Workshop this past July and it was excellent. My instructor was Dorothy Allison, who is one of the most gifted and generous teachers I’ve ever had. She has a way of giving you lessons you don’t even know she’s giving you and damn if she isn’t just fun to listen to. I had planned on applying again this year, … Read More Tin House Workshop, July 8-15th, 2007
Is Winter the New Spring?
With the first day of winter just a few days away, you could say I was shocked yesterday when I noticed that the crocus bulbs I planted in October are starting to come to life. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised because we’ve had many days in the 50s throughout this month and only a dusting of snow. This weather does worry me. It … Read More Is Winter the New Spring?
"They don’t know I have this inner life behind this smiling PTA mom’s face"
Here’s something to read with your morning coffee, an excellent article about my dear friend, Ellen Meister, and her excellent book Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA: A Novel (which would make an excellent holiday gift for the woman in your life): A TRUE DESPERATE HOUSEWIFE.
SmokeLong Quarterly Issue #15 is Live–read it
Smokelong Quarterly Issue #15 is hot off the presses and ready for you to read and enjoy. It features the work of such fine writers as: Aaron Burch, Nadine Darling, Elizabeth Ellen, Anne Elliot, Stephen Elliot, Kathy Fish, Pam Mosher, Joe Young, and many more! Don’t forget to read the author interviews at the end of each story–they are typically enlightening. Last but not … Read More SmokeLong Quarterly Issue #15 is Live–read it
Two Things to do on a Freakishly Warm Friday Afternoon in December
1) VOTE for Robin Slick‘s blog, damnit! Hers is the last on the list and my favorite of them all. 2) LISTEN to Kathy Fish read her delightfully hilarious story “Delivery”. That about covers it!
Reading Jane Kenyon and finding my religion
I was raised Catholic. Well, actually, I was raised Catholic until I was ten and my father died and my mother remarried but was not allowed to marry in the church because she and my father were in the process of getting a divorce. They didn’t divorce, but that they were separated when my father died was apparently enough for the magnanimous Catholic church … Read More Reading Jane Kenyon and finding my religion
Al Gore on Oprah
Have you seen An Inconvenient Truth yet? Read the book? Did you watch Al Gore on Oprah yesterday? I’ve seen the movie but I still watched him and was THRILLED that Oprah had him on because, as you know, more than anyone else in this country (possibly anyone else in the world?)–that woman can call people to action. I especially liked what Gore said … Read More Al Gore on Oprah
myfanwy collins 